Global reports KD 5.0 mln revenues for Q1 - Company posts net profit

21/05/2017 07:45 AST

Global Investment House("Global" or the "Company"), a regional asset management and investment banking firm headquartered in Kuwait, with offices in major capital markets in the MENA region, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended 31 March 2017 reporting a net profit of KWD2.1 million (USD6.8 million) compared to net profit of KWD0.2 million in Q1 2016, total revenues of KWD5.0 million (USD16.5 million), and fee and commission income of KWD3.3 million (USD10.9 million) representing 66% of total revenues.

During Q1 2017, Asset Management generated KWD2.8 million (USD9.1 million) revenues and the Asset Under Management (AUM) grew by KWD 23.0 million (USD75.3 million) to KWD1.0 billion (USD3.3 billion) stemming from both new money raising and performance driven AUM growth. During the quarter, the real estate asset management team closed an acquisition and placement of an office complex in Sheffield. Several funds managed by the Company outperformed their respective benchmarks and peers.

During Q1 2017, the Investment Banking team generated KWD0.4 million (USD 1.3 million) revenues from three mandates, ranging from advisory to M&A mandates. The team is currently working on several mandates and has an interesting pipeline of M&A and advisory mandates.

On the brokerage front, Global made focused efforts to grow the institutional brokerage business and take the advantage of over two-fold increase in market turnover. During Q1 2017, Brokerage fee revenues increased by over 100% to KWD0.4 million (USD1.2 million).

The Company's co-investments in its own funds and other principal investments generated KWD1.26 million (USD4.1 million) of realized gains, dividend income and fair valuation gains. On the other hand, the Board of Directors approved a new organization structure and named Sulaiman Al-Rubaie as Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Nawal Mulla-Hussain as Chief Operating Officer.

Hareb Al-Darmaki, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said: "The Company had an excellent start to the year, reporting a many fold increase to the net profit. Each business unit reported excellent net profit and strong underlying performance, driven by effective implementation of its fee-business driven strategy and positive sentiment in the regional equity markets."

Abdul Wahab Al-Halabi, Director & Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are delighted by these financial results, which reflect the Company's robust business model and trust of our clients and stakeholders in the Company. The new organization structure and promotions would not only strengthen the management team but would enrich the company's corporate governance practices."

Arab Times