?Kuwait Investment Company (KIC) announced generating a net profit of KD 3.4 million in the first half of 2023, compared to losses of KD 3.5 million for the same period of 2022
In a statement to the press, Kuwait Investment Company (KIC) announced generating a net profit of KD 3.4 million in the first half of 2023, compared to losses of KD 3.5 million for the same period of 2022, as the second quarter of this year has witnessed achieving a net profit of KD 3 million and the first quarter KD 387 million, an increase of 681%. Earnings per share reached 6.5 fils for the six months ended on 30/6/2023.
The company's total assets amounted to KD 257 million by the end of June of 2023, while the shareholders' equity of the parent company amounted to KD 114 million after paying cash dividends of 5 fils per share for 2022 profits.
Commenting on the results, the Chairman of Kuwait Investment Company, Dr. Yousef Al-Ali, said: "The financial results achieved for the second quarter reflect the company's successful business model and its intelligent strategy, which is based on operational diversification and commitment to the calculated risk policy."
Al-Ali attributed the increase in the company's profits during the second quarter of 2023 to several factors, most notably the growth of its operating income, which reached KD 14.2 million, an increase of 215% over the same period of the previous year, in addition to the continued improvement in the financial performance of its subsidiaries and the outstanding performance recorded by the company's global funds and portfolios.
On the investment, asset management, operations, and shareholders' equity side, Al-Ali stated that Kuwait Investment Company achieved positive results during the second quarter of this year, driven by the company's solid position and the wise flexible strategy, considering the changes that have occurred in the markets in the past years.
Bader Al-Subaiee, Chief Executive Officer of KIC, said: "KIC's financial indicators witnessed a significant improvement during the second quarter of 2023, as a result of the enduring progress of all areas of its business, driven by controlling risks and increasing the ability to follow and keep pace with changing market conditions."
On the performance of local and international funds and investment portfolios, Al-Subaiee stated that KIC had achieved strong operating returns in the second quarter of this year compared to the local and international fund market index. While on the investment in global markets, the company has succeeded, through its investments and managed portfolios, to achieve the desired results, benefiting from the strategy followed since 2019, with focuses on the technology sector and assets that are based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.
Our technology-focused global investment portfolio sector has achieved an outstanding return of 28.9% during the first half of 2023, benefiting from the recovery of global stock markets and the rise in the share prices of technology companies, supported by the good financial results achieved and investors' optimism that the end of the monetary tightening policy pursued by global central banks to contain inflation, which began to decline as a result of the implementation of these policies.
Al-Atheer Telecom Fund, which invests in the shares of Arab telecommunications companies and other companies within the field listed on the Arab stock markets, has achieved a notable performance/growth of 8.65% during the first half of 2023, while Al-Raed Investment Fund recorded a positive return of 2.31%, reducing its losses for the first half of the year to 3.35%. It is worth mentioning that Al-Raed Fund leads local equity funds in terms of its net asset value, which reached KD170 million by the end of June 2023.
The Kuwait Investment Fund also achieved good performance compared to the three other stock market indices, outperforming the measurement indices during the second quarter after completing a positive performance of 4.54%, which reduced its losses for the first half of the year to 2.3%, bringing the fund's net unit value to KD1.034.
During the second quarter of 2023, local investment portfolios managed by Kuwait Investment Company recorded a positive return of 2.24%, reducing their losses of 2.07%, while their performance was better than the performance of Boursa Kuwait's indices, as the Main Market index lost 3.6% and the Premier Market index 3.77% during the same period.