KUWAIT, April 28 (KUNA) -- KIPCO Asset Management Company (KAMCO) revealed Sunday that it downsized its assets by almost a half in 2012 in implementation of its strategy to offload non-core assets.

"During the year, the company's assets were reduced by almost half from KD 147 million to KD 77 million," KAMCO's Chairman Sheikh Abdullah Nasser Al Sabah said during the annual general assembly of the company.

"In addition, KD 22 million were repaid to the banks, bringing total debt to KD 40 million from KD 62 million in 2011. In line with our new strategy, KAMCO purposefully divested from non-core assets that were considered out of synch with our strategy. It was this process of restructuring and operational streamlining that lead KAMCO to incur losses for the year." Sheikh Abdullah underlined that his company was "set on the right growth track and profitability recovery is expected thanks to our restructuring process which has seen us streamline the company so that it is better able to tackle the challenges ahead and focus on our growing core activities of asset management and investment banking." This year, KAMCO posted a net loss of KD 11.6 million or loss per share of -48.9 fils, compared to a net loss of KD six million in 2011, or -25.8 fils per share.

"However, along with other operational successes, our assets under management grew to KD 2.41 billion (USD 8.4 billion) in 2012, compared to KD 2.

17 billion (USD 7.6 billion) in 2011, posting a growth of 11 percent," Sheikh Abdullah said in a press statement.

Despite these losses, KAMCO actually witnessed a marked increase in operating income in 2012 from its growing core activities, resulting in an operational profit compared to operational losses the previous year.

During the year, KAMCO managed to successfully close three major bond issuances for its clients, representing a total raised surpassing KD 200 million. Furthermore, KAMCO managed to close numerous investment banking transactions, including an acquisition for a client of an educational company, the largest deal in the education sector in the GCC region for the year.

With regards to KAMCO's managed funds, KAMCO Investment Fund surpassed the Kuwait Stock Exchange price index, while the Kuwait Education Fund witnessed a dramatic growth, securing its place as one of the best performing funds in Kuwait.

Established in 1998 with the mission to become a local and regional player, KAMCO is one of the leading Kuwait-based Investment Companies. A subsidiary of United Gulf Bank (UGB) - the investment banking subsidiary of Kuwait Projects (Holding) Company (KIPCO) - KAMCO was listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) in 2003.

Over many years of conducting business in Kuwait's dynamic investment industry, KAMCO has established a robust reputation for performance and solidity, characterized by its prudent, conservative investment philosophy which has consistently commanded the goodwill of a wide patron-base.

KAMCO's main activities are Investments and Asset Management. Its Investments Division specializes in providing investments, financial and advisory services, supported by investment research which tracks the latest directions and trends across regional and local economies as well as equity markets.