KUWAIT CITY - The KCIC, an investment firm specializing in investments in Asia, held its first Analyst and Investor Conference in partnership with KCIC's listing advisor, National Investments Company (NIC), at the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) where KCIC's executive management provided investors with a comprehensive review of the company's business model and financial performance. Based in Kuwait, KCIC invests in domestic demand related sectors in Asia, namely energy, real estate, healthcare, infrastructure, and financial services. The company is scheduled to list on the KSE tomorrow, Nov 24, 2009, under Investment Companies category with the ticker KCIC.
KCIC Managing Director Ahmad A. Al Hamad said: "By listing on the Kuwait Stock Exchange tomorrow, we present to investors a specialized investment firm focused on emerging Asia. Since our establishment in late 2005 we have pursued an investment strategy that is based on fundamentals, which has served us well during the recent credit crisis by shielding us from the severe drops experienced by our peers, as well as generating significant gains -- prior to the crisis and so far this year -- with considerable improvement to earnings and shareholder's equity". Al Hamad added: "As at Sept 30, 2009, KCIC's cash position stands at approximately 29 per cent of the Company's assets, and net profit for the first nine months was KD 12.06 million at an earning per share of 15.1 fils. Shareholders' equity increased by 16 per cent from year-end 2008 to reach KD 86.9 million today. As of Sept 30, 2009, KCIC had immaterial debt on its balance sheet, which further solidifies KCIC's stable financial position and reinstates the management's decision to base its investment strategy on fundamentals."
National Investments Company Deputy General Manager Hamad Al-Ameeri said: "NIC has been involved with KCIC since the Company's incorporation in 2005 and after H.H. the Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah's visit to Asia and his wish to strengthen the relationship between Kuwait and China. The idea of KCIC's incorporation was based on a study conducted by NIC on emerging Asia to ascertain the feasibility of investing in such markets to offer investors new investment opportunities, wherein the Company will seek to enter various sectors with lucrative returns in Asia. Today, the company is listing on the KSE with a strong financial position and solid assets." NIC Senior Manager and KCIC Board Member Noora Al Fassam said "NIC was the underwriter and lead manager of KCIC's IPO, which took place during 2005. The founders made a strategic decision to offer 400 million shares by way of public subscription, which is 50 per cent of the company's capital of KD 80 million, distributed over 800 million shares to Kuwaiti companies and individuals.
The IPO that had taken place is still one of the largest public subscriptions undertaken by the Kuwaiti private sector to date. This illustrates NIC's strong placement capabilities and shows significant measure of clients trust placed in NIC's management." Al-Fassam added: "While the financial crisis has left few untouched, KCIC's strategy in 2008 of reducing its direct exposure to the market by way of redeeming from fund managers and exiting positions in public stock markets have led to increasing its liquidity and minimizing its debt. NIC recognizes that this strategy has proved to tangibly improve KCIC's performance and facilitate the recovery of its losses from year end 2008." At the conference, Al-Hamad laid out KCIC's 'new silk road' business strategy. He said: "In the last ten years, trade and investment between the Middle East and emerging Asia has quadrupled, and researchers now expect it to rise further over the next decade as emerging Asia quickly assumes its position as one of the world's leading growth drivers. "We believe emerging Asia will soon play predominant role in global growth as the world moves from being a financially leveraged world to a demographically leveraged world, and we in the Middle East stand to benefit from this paradigm shift; a shift led by domestic demand.
"Today Asia is turning to domestic demand as a driver for its future growth. This surge in demand, currently outpacing the economies of G8 countries, continues to be fueled by the growing middle class in emerging Asia, creating better educated and sophisticated consumers who will support a vibrant domestic economy over the next decades. We believe this growth will be sustained by Asia's strong demographic and economic fundamentals, especially when considering the growth drivers, labor dynamics, and capital dynamics that are already in place and supporting growth that exceeds that of the G8 economies. All together, this results in a significant expansion in wealth as the rates of disposable income increase, the middle class grows, and urbanization continues.
"Put in a global context, emerging Asia will soon lead the world in growth rates. In fact, China's economy has grown fifteen-fold just over past three decades, at an average rate of 10 per cent per year. Over the last 20 years India has grown at an average annual rate of 6.4 per cent. In the last 5 years, China became the world's 3rd largest economy, and India the 12th. By 2050, China's economy expected to be the world's largest, and India the 3rd. With all these indicators in place, KCIC, an Asia specialist, stands at the gateway to Asia, connecting Gulf Capital to investment opportunities in Asia and Asia to opportunities in the Middle East."
By Rena Sadeghi
© Arab Times 2009
