KAMCO posts net profit of KD 421,407 for H1 of 2018, an increase of 12%
Revenues rose by 2% to KD 4.8 million in H1
KUWAIT: KAMCO Investment Company announced its financial results for the period ended on June 30th, 2018. The company recorded a net profit of KD 421,407 for the first half of 2018, an increase of 12 percent in comparison to KD 375,364 during the same period in 2017. Earnings-per-share (EPS) for the period is 1.77 fils, compared to 1.58 fils in 2017. Fee income reached KD 3.8 million, an increase of 18 percent from KD 3.2 million achieved in the first half of 2017. Revenues rose by 2 percent to KD 4.8 million for the first half of 2018 from KD 4.7 million in 2017.
Total assets under management (AUM), stood at KD 3.1 billion, with new money raised in funds and client portfolios.
Chief Executive Officer of KAMCO, Faisal Mansour Sarkhou, said, “Despite an anticipated slight increase in expenses, due to implementing the firm’s growth strategy and expansion plan, we have increased our net profits by 12 percent in comparison to the first half of 2017. Our funds and portfolios under management continue to perform well in the market and KAMCO will continue to enhance them to outperform their benchmarks. We will remain focused on reducing our expenses and increasing our profitability by utilizing our resources through varying market conditions to proactively serve our clients and stakeholders.”
He also said, “During the second quarter, our Investment Banking Team has completed several key transactions within the local and regional markets. We acted as the Sole Managers and Arrangers of United Real Estate Company’s KD 60 million bond issuance, and were Joint Lead Managers in Damac Real Estate Development’s $400 million Sukuk issuance. In addition to that, our Alternative Investments Team has increased the size of the AUM in the international real estate portfolio to $344 million.”
It is worth mentioning that, the GCC markets remained mixed during the first half of 2018, Saudi Arabia with its double-digit gains at one end, while Dubai seeing an almost equivalent fall on the other. Most of the gains in Saudi Arabia came on the back of its inclusion in the MSCI’s Emerging Markets index. In addition, a positive surprise provided a big boost to Kuwait during the latter half of Q2-18 after MSCI said it would include Kuwait in its 2019 review. Large-cap stocks remained the top pick in most of the positive performing markets while a conservative stance was followed in the case of Dubai resulting in a steep decline in trading activity.