Solidere’s Net Profit Surges to $54.1 Million

BEIRUT, 4 April 2005 — Lebanese real estate developer Solidere’s net profits more than trebled last year to $54.1 million from $16.4 million in 2003 due to a sharp rise in sales, the company said yesterday. The country’s largest company, with a virtual monopoly on property in the Beirut Central District it rebuilt after the 1975-1990 civil war, said land and real estate sales totaled $180 million last year, compared with $87 million in 2003. Revenues from rented properties also rose, to $18.6 million from $15.4 million. Solidere also completed listing its shares on the Kuwait Stock Exchange last month.