Egypt's Ezz Dekheila Steel, a subsidiary of Ezz Steel, made net profit of 2.704 billion Egyptian pounds ($489 million) in the first nine months of 2008, 53 percent up on the same period of 2007, the stock exhange said on Thursday.

Ezz Steel, Egypt's largest steel producer, owns 50.3 percent of Ezz Dekheila, according to its website.-Reuters