Palm Hills posted a 9 percent rise in first-quarter net profit to LE49.7 million ($7.0 million), Egypt's second-biggest property developer said in a statement to the bourse on Thursday.

Earlier this month, US private equity firm Ripplewood said it had acquired a 2.3 percent stake in Palm Hills, adding that it hoped to increase its stake.

The firm struggled in 2012 after it faced investigations into previous state land sales and client cancellations after an uprising toppled president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Turning a corner, it recorded a profit of 239 million pounds in 2013.

It has said it is in talks with the Arab African International Bank (AAIB) over a LE2.4 billion loan which it would use to finance projects and refinance around LE640 million from its current bank loans.

Palm Hills turned to profitability in 2013 as the luxury real estate developer made a net loss of LE134.6 million in the year before, it said in a statement.