Kuwait's Global Investment narrows Q2 loss

Kuwait's Global Investment House reported a narrower second quarter loss on Monday, buoyed by fee-based income and lower operating costs.Global, whose two largest shareholders are the governments of Kuwait and Dubai, had a net loss KD16.7m ($61.1m) in the second quarter, compared to a net loss of KD20.2 in the year-earlier period.Its shares rose 13.51 percent on the Kuwait bourse at 0937 GMT.The firm said its asset management, investment banking and brokerage operations generated operating income of KD8.3m in the first half. Global said interest expenses were cut by seven percent during the period while operating expenses were 33 percent lower in the first half this year than in 2010. Global, which said its first half results were hit by political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, reported a wider net loss in the period of KD38.7m, compared to a loss of KD34.4m in the first half of 2010. It did not provide a quarterly breakdown of results. "Principal investments losses stood at KD28.2m during the first half ... largely due to KD6.8m losses from share of results of associates and the political unrest," Global said in a statement. The investment firm, which was hard hit by the global financial crisis in 2008, said debt was reduced to KD504.8m in the first half of 2011, from KD578.95m in the year-earlier period. "On 13 July ... the majority lenders approved an amendment to the facilities agreement to waive until March 31, 2012 a condition that might have restricted any negotiations for the rescheduling or restructuring of the Group's indebtedness," it said without elaborating. From / Arabian Business News