The earnings of Kuwaiti listed companies surged 11 per cent to hit KD1.35 billion ($4.8 billion) in 2013 when compared to the same period last year, said a report.

The financial results of Kuwaiti listed companies reveal a steady albeit uneven recovery of the corporate sector in Kuwait. The rise in 2013 corporate earnings was primarily driven by improvement in the real estate and non-bank financial services sectors, stated the country's top lender National Bank of Kuwait.

These two sectors had fared the worst during the financial crisis and have seen some notable recoveries in the past two years, it added.

The number of companies reporting losses and their aggregate losses continued to shrink. Only 26 companies reported negative earnings in 2013 compared to 40 the previous year. Losses in 2013 totaled KD124 million compared to KD220 million in 2012, said the NBK in its report.

Companies in the financial services sector reported total profits of KD 83 million. These companies saw significant growth from 2012. Results reveal that a number of companies in this sector have made a solid recovery, though it should be noted that about a fifth of the sector’s companies have yet to announce results for 2013, it stated.

According to NBK, the country's real estate companies profits more than doubled to KD148 million over last year. "The pickup in company profits mirrors the recovery we have seen in Kuwait’s real estate sector in general, particularly in residential and investment property," it stated.

Companies in the consumer goods and consumer services sectors saw decent increases in profits thanks to a healthy consumer sector. Still, these two sectors remain relatively small and have little noticeable impact on the aggregates, it said.

The Kuwait lender said equity prices have reacted positively to profit announcements thus far in the first quarter of 2014. The value-weighted index is up 6.7 per cent thus far in 2014.

The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) also seems to be benefitting for a more positive economic outlook for Kuwait, satarted NBK in its report.

With relative stability on political front and some progress in the government’s development projects, investors are showing more interest in the local bourse, it added.-TradeArabia News Service