Palm Hills Developments, a Cairo-based real estate development firm led by Egyptian billionaire Yasseen Mansour, has increased its stake in International Company for Leasing (Incolease), an Egyptian financial services firm.
The real estate developer recently increased its shareholding in Incolease from 15.35 percent to 18.23 percent after purchasing a total of 576,001 shares in a deal valued at EGP23.61 million ($1.27 million), putting the average price of the shares acquired at EGP41 ($2.21) per share.
The deal comes nearly four weeks after Palm Hills acquired a 7.97-percent equity in Incolease at a total value of EGP65.35 million ($3.52 million), as part of a strategic move to diversify its asset base away from its primary business.
Since the Egyptian property development company increased its stake in Incolease from 15.35 percent to 18.23 percent, the share price has risen by 4.77 percent, from EGP1.47 ($0.0793) to EGP1.54 ($0.083) per share.
The increase in the value of the company’s shares pushed the market value of Mansour’s 4.68-percent stake to EGP221.74 million ($11.96 million), while the market capitalization of the leading property developer surpassed EGP4.7 billion ($255 million).
In recent times, the property company has set aside EGP4.5 billion ($243 million) for development work in 2022, as it plans to deliver 2,000 units across all of its projects this year, according to Mansour.
The projected investment for the next fiscal year represents a 52 percent increase, or EGP1.3 billion ($82.7 million), over the EGP2.5 billion ($159 million) projected for the current fiscal year.
At the end of 2021, the group’s consolidated net profits increased by 14.26 percent from EGP749.17 million ($47.7 million) in 2020 to EGP856.06 million ($54.5 million), owing to an increase in demand for real estate assets during the year.
As a result of the group’s strong financial performance, the board of directors recommended a cash dividend distribution of EGP0.10 ($0.00636) per share for 2021, totaling EGP304.05 million ($19.35 million) for shareholders.
