Egypt's second-biggest property developer Palm Hills Developments (PHD) has promoted chief investment officer Tarek Abdel Rahman to the position of co-chief executive officer with immediate effect, it said on Monday.

The move comes after USprivate equity firm Ripplewood acquired a 2.3 percent stake in PHD last month, highlighting international appetite for Egyptian real estate.

Timothy Collins, Ripplewood's founder and CEO, has become PHD's vice chairman.

Abdel Rahman will join PHD's CEO Mohamed Ahmed Sultan, who has been in his position since 2011.

"In his capacity as Co-CEO, Mr Abdel Rahman will oversee sales and client relations in addition to marketing and finance operations. He will also supervise the firm's real estate portfolio as well as PHD's investor relations functions," the company said in a statement to the bourse.

PHD posted a 9 percent rise in first-quarter net profit to 49.7 million Egyptian pounds ($7 million) versus a year earlier.

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 2.4 billion pound loan which it would use to finance projects and refinance around 640 million pounds from its current bank loans. - Reuters