CAIRO: An Egyptian court set April 26 as the date when it would rule on whether the sale of state land to Palm Hills Development (PHD), the country's second-biggest listed developer, should be scrapped. A judicial panel said earlier this month the sale was illegal because it was priced too cheaply and was not publicly auctioned. The judicial body decision has in the past influenced court verdicts. PHD is the second company to face such a decision, after a court ruled last year that a land deal with Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG), Egypt's biggest developer, for its $3 billion Madinaty project should be scrapped. Palm Hills Chairman and Chief Executive Yasseen Mansour is among those facing criminal charges of wasting public money, adding to concerns about the stock, which has not been traded for over seven weeks as the bourse has been closed by Egypt's political turmoil. The court's ruling is in response to a suit filed by Hamdy Fakhrany, the engineer who also filed the TMG case. The Palm Hills suit concerns the state's sale of 960,000 square meters of land in a Cairo suburb. The company has said its board of directors would meet on March 31 to authorize the disposal of part of its land portfolio, without giving further details.
