Kipco reports $30.2m first quarter profit

Dubai: Kuwait Projects Co. (Holding), or Kipco, said on Tuesday that its first-quarter net profit inched up 1 per cent on year to 8.6 million Kuwaiti dinars ($30.2 million). Kipco, which is one of the largest holding groups in the Middle East and North Africa, said that its total revenue climbed 18 per cent to 145 million dinars from 123 million in the first quarter of 2012. Total assets grew 1.4 per cent to 7.3 billion dinars at the end of March from 7.2 billion dinars at the end of 2012, the company said in a statement. “We [have recently] said [that] we expected double-digit revenue growth from our core companies during 2013. These first quarter results show that we are on target to meet this expectation with solid performances being delivered across all sectors,” Masaud Hayat, Kipco’s chief executive officer for banking, said in the statement. The Kipco group holds interests in over 60 companies operating in 24 countries in such fields as financial services, media, real estate and manufacturing, in addition to the education and medical sectors.