Kuwait Projects Company (Kipco), the country's biggest investment firm by assets, said it will extend the maturity of KD40 million ($139.5 million) worth of bonds by one year.

The bonds' maturity date will be extended to November 5, 2010, Kipco said in a newspaper advertisement carried by daily newspaper al-Rai on Sunday. The bonds have a coupon rate of 5.57 per cent.

Kipco said in September it was planning a bonds roadshow and would be meeting with investors to present it to them.

In May, Kipco, which owns stakes in 50 companies and operates in 21 countries, said it wants to move ahead with plans to sell pension products worth up to $500 million in the Middle East over the next five years and launch an insurance firm in Algeria this year.-Reuters