October 13, 2002	Sunday	Sha'aban 6, 1423

KUWAIT, Oct 12: Kuwait’s only Islamic bank, Kuwait Finance House (KFH), reported a rise in net profit for the first nine months of the year to 37.74 million dinars ($125 million) but other listed firms showed weaker results on Saturday.

The world’s second largest Islamic banking institution said in a statement to Reuters its earnings per share rose by one fils from 54 fils in the third quarter of 2001 when it made a net of 36.58 million dinars.

There are 1,000 fils to the dinar ($3.3).

KFH shares closed unchanged on Saturday, the start of the trading week, at 1.02 dinars, compared with a year high of 1.16 dinars in June. The blue chip is up 17.24 per cent for the year.

The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) index, which has been under pressure in recent weeks on Iraq war jitters, closed on Saturday down 0.4 per cent at 2,0004 points — up 17.26 percent for the year after hitting a high in July of 2,315.7.

KFH, which operates according to Islamic banking principles that ban interest payments, put gross profit for the period at 89 million dinars while assets grew 12 percent at end-September to 2.5 billion dinars.

Deposits grew 14 per cent during the period to 1.9 billion dinars.

KFH, which has ambitious regional expansion plans, is devising fresh investment vehicles to absorb a portion of $80 billion in excess liquidity in Islamic funds.

It has moved into Islamic leasing operations ranging from aircraft to heavy equipment and real estate overseas.

Chairman Bader al-Mukhaizam said in a statement KFH, set up in 1978, will open a new bank in Bahrain, the oil-rich region’s financial and banking hub, in the next few weeks with a $100 million capital.

He said another Islamic bank which opened in Sharjah in neighbouring United Arab Emirates in July was showing “positive indicators” as part of its expansion plans.

KFH holds 20 per cent in the new Masraf Sharjah al-Watani.

Shuaiba Paper did not trade on Saturday and remained at 360 fils a share, compared with a year high of 550 fils in February. The stock is down 20 per cent for the year.

The company announced a sharp drop in Q3 net profit after the market closed to 346,138 dinars, compared with a net of 3.766 million in the first nine months of 2001. Earnings per share drop to 12.4 fils from 137.3 fils by Q3 last year.

Independent Petroleum Group rose 10 fils on Saturday 305 fils, compared with a year high of 570 fils in Januray. The stock of the oil marketing firm is down 43.5 per cent for the year.

It reported on Saturday a loss by Q3 of 551,000 dinars, compared with a net profit in the first nine months of 2001 of 4.15 million dinars. In the third quarter the company made a net profit of 838,000 dinars — an earning per share of 8.16 fils compared with 12.31 fils in Q3 2001.—Reuters