Egypt's biggest investment bank, EFG-Hermes, saw net profit jump 27 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from the same period a year earlier, the bank said on Wednesday.

Net profit for the period increased to LE98 million ($14 million) from LE77.0 million in the first quarter of 2012, the bank said in a statement sent to the Egyptian stock exchange.

EFG-Hermes listed stocks ended Wednesday's trading, rising 0.65 percent to close at LE9.35 per share.

Earlier this month, the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) refused to approve the year-old joint venture deal between Qatar’s QInvest and Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes, citing a lack of experience as the main reason.

EFSA said EFG-Hermes Qatar LLC – a joint venture owned 60 percent by QInvest, 40 percent by EFG-Hermes, which targeted fully buying the latter’s main operations – did not meet the ‘experience requirements’ stipulated in the Egyptian Capital Market law.