Egyptian real estate company Amer Group  said on Wednesday it was scrapping plans to expand its Porto Marina Golf resort due to the economic slowdown.

Chief financial officer Hisham Taha told Reuters, Amer, which has already developed the project's first two phases that include 9,280 housing units, had decided to stop paying for a plot of land it had bought under instalments for the expansion.

Porto Marina Golf is a residential and golf resort covering 1.5 million square metres (16 million square feet) of Egypt's Mediterranean coast.

'In light of the current economic situation, the board decided to cancel the land contract of the third phase of Porto Marina Golf on condition that the paid amount is reimbursed,' Taha said.

Amer Group, which sells property along the country's Red Sea and Mediterranean coasts, has been expanding abroad with projects in Syria and Dubai. It has said it is also looking at investing in Saudi Arabia.

Taha added Amer was eyeing projects in Turkey. The property developer had begun selling units in its Porto Tartous tourist project in Syria.

The company last month posted a 10.6 per cent increase in 2010 net profit to EGP 557.1 million.-Reuters