CAIRO: Egypt’s financial regulator rejected a Palm Hills Developments plan to distribute a dividend in the form of a new share for every 10 held, the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) said on Sunday.
Shareholders of Palm Hills, Egypt’s second-biggest listed developer, approved the dividend last week.
But the EFSA said the firm had violated stock market regulations because it did not inform the regulator of the purpose of the ordinary general meeting in which shareholders approved the dividend in advance, a statement said.
The firm was not immediately available for comment.
Palm Hills, which had a record year for sales in 2010, is mired in a lawsuit over land it bought from the state, and its Chairman and Chief Executive Yasseen Mansour is facing criminal charges of wasting public money.
The company’s net profit fell 2.1 percent to LE 181 million ($30.31 million) year-on-year in the fourth quarter.
Palm Hill’s shares closed 9.7 percent higher, while the benchmark index gained 1.7 percent.
