The Arab Palestinian Investment Company (APIC), in its ordinary general assembly held yesterday in Ramallah ratified dividend distribution amounting to $15.64 million for registered shareholders as of May 7, 2023, which represents around 13.96% of APIC’s paid-in capital totaling $112 million to date, 9.5% as cash dividends amounting to $10.64 million and around 4.46% as five million in bonus shares. Accordingly, APIC’s paid-in capital will reach $117 million following the bonus share distribution. The meeting, which was chaired by APIC Chairman and CEO Tarek Aggad, was attended by members of APIC’s Board of Directors, representatives from the Ministry of National Economy – the Companies’ Controller Office, the Palestine Capital Market Authority, the external auditor of the company, its legal counsel and many of its shareholders. In his remarks at the meeting, Aggad explained the unprecedented regional and global economic challenges APIC faced in 2022 and up to the present, which includes inflation in supply chain costs worldwide involving the price of raw materials, production, shipping, energy, transportation, and storage due to the war in Ukraine among others. He added that there was a rise in the group’s financing costs, which increased by more than 60% in 2022, partly due to a major hike in global interest rates, in addition to the increase in the cost of financing associated with expansions and working capital. He went on to say that the company also has been impacted by the results of Siniora’s Turkish subsidiary Polonez applying International Accounting Standard No. 29 because Turkey was classified by its auditors as a hyperinflationary country in April 2022. Aggad ended his remarks by affirming the company’s solid financial position and its good results despite the many challenges, noting that EBITDA amounted to $77.9 million in 2022, a growth of 3.2% compared to 2021. APIC is a foreign public shareholding investment holding company listed on the Palestine Exchange (PEX: APIC). It holds diversified investments across the manufacturing, trade, distribution and service sectors in Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Turkey through its group of subsidiaries: Siniora Food Industries Company; Unipal General Trading Company; Palestine Automobile Company; Medical Supplies and Services Company; National Aluminum and Profiles Company (NAPCO); Sky Advertising and Public Relations and Event Management Company; Arab Leasing Company and Arab Palestinian Storage and Cooling Company, employing over 3,000 staff through its group of subsidiaries.
Source: Palestine news & Information Agency