Gimv, the Belgian listed private equity firm, has made a €76m ($70m) profit in the first half of this year, despite difficult market conditions for private equity firms.

The positive result is due to the realisation of €375m in capital gains during the first half, €340m of which came from Gimv's sale of its 26% stake in Telenet, the Belgian cable company, in February. Profits for the first six months of 2001 are up 16% on the €65.2m profit for the same period last year, and are not far off the €80m net profit the company made for the whole of 2000.