Kuwait Projects Company (Kipco), the country's largest investment company, has registered a net profit of KD12 million ($40 million) for the first three months, up 17 per cent over KD10.3 million ($34.3 million) for the same period last year, said a report.

One of the biggest holding companies in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), the Kipco Group has consolidated assets worth $31.3 billion as of March 31, 2015.

The group has significant ownership interests in over 60 companies operating across 24 countries. Its main business sectors are financial services, media, real estate and manufacturing, said a company statement.

Through its core companies, subsidiaries and affiliates, Kipco also has interests in the education and medical sectors, it added.

The earnings per share grew by 24 per cent to 8.84 fils ($2.9 cents) from 7.14 fils ($ 2.4 cents) per share reported for the same period last year.

The company also reported a nine per cent rise in its operating profits before provisions during the first quarter which hit KD37 million ($123 million) from KD34 million ($113 million) reported last year.

Kipco’s consolidated assets increased to KD9.4 billion ($31.3 billion) from KD9.3 billion ($30.9 billion) last year.

Commenting on the results, CEO (Banking) Masaud Hayat said: "The first quarter results reflect a consistent trend of strong performance and are in line with the company’s core objectives as outlined during the 2015 Shafafiyah Investor’s Forum."

"As we announced at the forum, our first quarter results are on course with our objectives of doubling our 2014 profits by 2018, driven by underlying operating profit growth across our core companies," he noted.

"The revenue and operating profit growth trends in our main operating entities during the first quarter of 2015 are an indication of the positive performance we expect for the remainder of the year," he added.-TradeArabia News Service