Kuwait Projects Co (Kipco), the country's largest investment company, reported a 75 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on Tuesday, saying its pay-television company OSN had performed especially well.

Net profit in the three months to the end of December was KD14 million ($49.7 million), compared to KD8 million in the same period last year, the group said in a statement.

Kipco, a regional investment house with stakes in media, industrial, financial and real estate companies, said its net profit for 2013 rose to KD40.1 million, up 27 per cent compared to KD 31.6 million, the year before.

Kipco said its board had recommended a cash dividend of 20 per cent and a five per cent stock dividend.

The total revenues from continuing operations in 2013 increased 28 per cent to KD513 million compared to the KD402 million reported in 2012.

The company's consolidated assets increased in 2013 to KD8.6 billion from KD7.2 billion in 2012, said its top official.

"Kipco's 2013 results reflect solid performance across all of the company’s core sectors. We achieved the double digit growth we promised our shareholders at last year’s Shafafiyah Investor’s Forum thanks to the solid performance of our companies throughout the year. The 2013 results mark Kipco's 22 consecutive year of profitability," remarked its vice chairman Faisal Al Ayyar.
 
He pointed out that the very positive performance trends in all its core sectors – including banking, media, real estate and insurance – were evident in the growth and profitability of our companies during 2013.

"In particular, our broadcast company, OSN, continued to deliver strong improvement in revenue and profit, and subscriber numbers are now close to the one million mark. We believe that all signs point to an economic recovery that will allow KIPCO to continue its growth trend in the coming years," he added.- Reuters and TradeArabia News Service