KUWAIT, May 23 (Reuters) - Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), one of the world's biggest sovereign wealth funds, said it had incurred a loss of 312 million dinars ($1.03 billion) in the financial year ended in March 2016, according to the country's state news agency.
The loss was 0.2 percent of total assets, KUNA quoted a KIA statement as saying late on Monday, denying local media reports of bigger losses.
KIA rarely comments on its financial performance. Its statement implies the fund had assets of about $515 billion; the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, which tracks the industry, has estimated KIA's assets at $592 billion.
Among KIA's high-profile investments, it owns 6.8 percent of German automaker Daimler AG
DAIGn.DE
and a 4.8 percent stake in French nuclear power firm Areva SA
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, according to Thomson Reuters data.
In its statement, KIA said: "It is unprofessional to judge a performance of one year, during which the market was down." It said its performance for a 20-year period had been positive and outmatched other sovereign funds. It did not reveal its returns for the latest fiscal year ended in March 2017.
(Reporting by Ahmed Hagagy; Writing by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Andrew Torchia and David Evans) ((Saeed.Azhar@thomsonreuters.com; +65-64035664 ; Reuters Messaging: saeed.azhar.reuters.com@reuters.net))
The loss was 0.2 percent of total assets, KUNA quoted a KIA statement as saying late on Monday, denying local media reports of bigger losses.
KIA rarely comments on its financial performance. Its statement implies the fund had assets of about $515 billion; the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, which tracks the industry, has estimated KIA's assets at $592 billion.
Among KIA's high-profile investments, it owns 6.8 percent of German automaker Daimler AG
In its statement, KIA said: "It is unprofessional to judge a performance of one year, during which the market was down." It said its performance for a 20-year period had been positive and outmatched other sovereign funds. It did not reveal its returns for the latest fiscal year ended in March 2017.
(Reporting by Ahmed Hagagy; Writing by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Andrew Torchia and David Evans) ((Saeed.Azhar@thomsonreuters.com; +65-64035664 ; Reuters Messaging: saeed.azhar.reuters.com@reuters.net))
