Egyptian tobacco firm Eastern approves dividend

Egypt's cigarette monopoly Eastern Company said on Wednesday its shareholders approved a 6 Egyptian pound ($1) share dividend for its 2010-2011 profit, an increase on the previous year.

Eastern posted a net profit of 631 million pounds for the full year to the end of June, down 26 percent from a year earlier.

The dividend, higher than last year's payout, was agreed at the firm's annual general meeting on Tuesday. In 2010, the firm paid out a 5.5 pound dividend.