Kuwait-based United Real Estate Company (URC), a major regional developer, achieved a net profit of KD3.5 million ($12.3 million) and an operating profit of KD8.2 million for the first half of 2014.

“We began the year with an aim of accomplishing the objectives outlined in our Strategy Report for 2014,” said Mohammed Ahmed Al Saqqaf, URC’s chief executive officer.

“Accordingly, we managed to eradicate any assets in our real estate portfolio without a real intrinsic value, as recently carried out in Qatar. Additionally, our total revenue increased by 11 per cent to reach KD22.8 million, for the first half of 2014, as opposed to the same period in the previous year.”

“This was driven by a rise in our contracting and services revenue through the bids awarded to our subsidiaries in the project management, construction management and facilities management industries, UBC, KUCM and UFM, respectively. This result fulfils our other strategic objective for the year, which was to gain more independent third party contracts from our operational subsidiaries,” he added.

During the second quarter of this year, URC distributed 8 per cent in cash dividends for a total amount of KD8.6 million. – TradeArabia News Service