News
Vodafone Egypt agrees to pay withheld dividends to major shareholder.
Telecom Egypt on Thursday appointed a new chairman, CEO, and CFO as part of a board overhaul instigated by the government.
The announcement was made a day after the operator settled a dispute over dividends withheld by Vodafone Egypt, which is 45% owned by Telecom Egypt.
In a stock exchange filing, Telecom Egypt said its board has nominated Maged Osman as its new chairman, and Tamer Gad Allah as its new chief executive. They replace Mohamed Salem and Osama Yasin respectively, who were only themselves appointed in May 2015.
The company also revealed that finance chief Hassan Helmy has resigned, and will be replaced by Mohamed Hassan Shamroukh.
All three executives are newly-appointed government representatives on Telecom Egypt’s board. The state holds an 80% stake in the operator.
No reason was given for the reshuffle; however, it is likely that it stems from ongoing delays to the activation of Telecom Egypt’s unified licence, which will enable it to offer mobile services.
Meanwhile, in a separate stock exchange filing on Wednesday, Telecom Egypt announced that Vodafone Egypt has agreed to pay 3.34 billion Egyptian pounds (€330.57 million) in withheld dividends after reaching a settlement with the company.
Vodafone Egypt will make the payment in two equal instalments in April and June. Telecom Egypt is entitled to EGP1.5 billion of the proceeds.
Vodafone Egypt had been withholding dividends since 2012 due to difficulties with repatriating profits to the U.K.
According to Telecom Egypt, the total value of the deferred dividends owed by Vodafone stood at EGP4.5 billion, but it appears the state-owned telco has settled for less.
