Net profit in the three months to June 30 came in at 8.5 million dinars ($31.1 million), the firm said in a statement on Tuesday, compared with 4.83 million dinars in the same period last year."Our first-half results — and the growth trends underpinning them — have met our expectations," said Tariq Abdulsalam, KIPCO's chief executive for investment.Profit in the first half amounted to 16.6 million dinars, KIPCO said, up from 9.6 million dinars in the first half of last year. "Perhaps the signs of growth we are seeing indicate a gradual recovery within local and regional markets. As a result, we continue to be optimistic that by year-end we will see an improvement in profitability across our key operations," Abdulsalam said.Last month, KIPCO mandated NBK Capital and KIPCO Asset Management for a Kuwaiti dinar bond, a source close to the matter told Reuters.The company's last bond issue under its euro medium term notes (EMTN) program was a 10-year $500 million bond in July last year at 9.5 percent.KIPCO's shares were up 1.4 percent on the Kuwaiti bourse on Tuesday. The results were released after the market closed.
