CAIRO - Egypt's financial regulator rejected El Sewedy Electric's plan to hold a shareholder meeting on dividend distribution and a capital increase as it had not sought regulatory approval beforehand. The Arab world's biggest listed cablemaker was planning to seek shareholder approval for a cash dividend of 1 pound per share and an issue of three bonus shares for every ten held, its investor relations director Ahmed El Homossani told Reuters last week. He said the company wanted to present the proposals to shareholders on April 26. "We give notice that the authority does not recognise this invitation bearing in mind that... the company specified a date to hold the general extraordinary assembly without receiving the authority's approval for such an invitation," the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) said in a statement. Sewdey said on Wednesday its fourth-quarter net profit rose 16 per cent to 97.5 million Egyptian pounds ($16.34 million) Sewedy has production plants in Egypt and 10 other countries. The company, which also makes wind farm equipment, exports to markets in the Middle East and North Africa region, Brazil, Portugal, Spain and eastern Europe. Shares of Sewedy closed 0.7 per cent lower at 44.5 pounds on Monday, while the benchmark index .EGX30 dipped 1.3 per cent.
