KUWAIT CITY: Kuwaiti real estate firm United Real Estate Company (URC) posted a revenue growth of 11% to $119.3m (KWD36m) for the first half of 2016, compared with the same period last year.
Operating profit rose by 3.6%. Total assets rose 2.8% to $1.8bn (KWD570m). URC announced that the company’s net profit for the six-month period was $9.9m (KWD3m) with earnings per share of 2.8 fils, compared to a net profit of $12.09m (KWD3.6m) in the same period last year. The change was attributed to a slight drop in non-operational profits.
Despite challenging market conditions, URC’s performance for the period was in line with its targets, the company said. Ahmad Kasem, acting chief executive officer of URC, said: “In the first half of 2016 we have completed the masterplans for a number of new projects in Egypt and Morocco. These projects will spur the company’s overall growth and profitability for the future, and help to achieve our long-term business and strategic goals.”
Kasem stated that there were a number of opportunities emerging across the GCC from the current market conditions and the company has been positioning itself to take advantage of them.
“We have focused on implementing greater efficiency in our operations and aligned our project budgets to strategic long-term sustainability across different market conditions.
“URC’s diverse portfolio across retail, commercial, leisure, integrated mixed-use resorts and residential developments and services has positioned the company to achieve balanced growth in the GCC and Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region, in addition to strengthening its assets in Kuwait.