Author: OBG Admin

Kuwait Finance House: Banking

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THE COMPANY: Kuwait Finance House (KFH) was established in 1977 as the first Islamic financial institution in Kuwait providing banking services, purchase and sale of properties, leasing, project construction and other trading activities. The bank was listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange in 1984, and is currently the second-largest company on exchange with a market capitalisation of KD3.2bn ($11.02bn). KFH is also the second-largest financial institution in Kuwait in terms of total asset base at KD17.2bn ($59.26bn) and customer deposits of KD10.9bn ($37.55bn). Major international rating agencies, namely Moody’s, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s (S&P) continue to rate KFH’s long-term and short-term ratings investment

Mabanee: Real estate

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THE COMPANY: Mabanee is a shareholding real estate firm that is widely recognised for owning The Avenues Mall. It was listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange in November 1999 and is currently the largest real estate company in the country, with a market capitalisation of KD824m ($2.84bn), representing around a third of the Kuwaiti real estate sector. The Avenues is planned to include four phases, three of which are currently operational. The most recent phase ended in 2012 at a total cost of KD171m ($589.12m). The current occupancy for all three phases is 100%. Phase four of the mall is currently being planned and will

National Bank of Kuwait: Banking

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THE COMPANY: Recognised as the leader in the local banking industry, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) was established in 1952 as the first local and national bank, and the first joint stock company in Kuwait and the Gulf region. NBK is the largest financial institution in Kuwait with total assets of KD21.8bn ($75.1bn) and the top market share at around 32% of banking services. NBK has steadily earned the highest credit ratings among Middle Eastern banks from international agencies in recognition of its high quality of assets, strong financial performance and solid capital base. Moody’s, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s have assigned NBK long-term

Éric N’guessan-Managing Partner-EY Côte d’Ivoire

New momentum: As the market continues to recover, local firms are eyeing IPOs

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In late March 2015 Kuwait’s parliament voted to amend the ownership structure of the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), with the goal of listing the firm in an initial public offering (IPO) before the end of the year. Under the plan, which as of August 2015 the government had yet to finalise and confirm, around 50% of the bourse would be sold to Kuwaiti citizens, between 6% and 24% would be owned by various state entities, and the remaining 26-44% would go to a company with prior experience operating stock exchanges. The vote was the latest development in a plan to float the KSE that has

Éric N’guessan-Managing Partner-EY Côte d’Ivoire

New players: The Islamic banking sector has undergone rapid growth over the past decade

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In April 2014 the Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CMBK) received approval from 85% of its shareholders to convert the bank to a full-fledged sharia-compliant lender, making it the most recent financial services provider to begin exploring a possible conversion. Indeed, Ahli United Bank Kuwait (AUB) went through a similar process in 2010. When CMBK completes the transition to sharia compliance – potentially before the end of 2015 – Kuwait’s banking sector will be predominantly composed of sharia-compliant institutions. As of the end of 2014 five of the country’s 11 banks operated according to sharia principles; the conversion of CMBK will bring that number to six.

Zain Group: Mobile telecommunications

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THE COMPANY: Zain Group is a Kuwait-based public shareholding company engaged in the provision of mobile telecoms and data services in eight MENA countries. Zain was incorporated in June 1983 and listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange in March 1985. The telco currently ranks fifth in terms of market capitalisation in the GCC telecoms sector at KD2.1bn ($7.2bn). Zain reported a net profit of KD194.3m ($699.4m) in 2014, down 10.2% from KD216.4m ($745.54m) in 2013. This decline was due to a drop in subscribers as competition heated up, resulting in a 2.1% decline in revenues during the same period, from KD1.24bn ($4.27bn) to KD1.21bn ($4.17bn),

Sheikh Ahmad Duaij Jaber Al Sabah-Chairman-Commercial Bank of Kuwait

Home-grown activity: Local firms take on a bigger role in the logistics segment

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Kuwait has a growing segment of private sector firms providing trade and logistics services. While many of these firms initially gained a foothold by serving US military personnel in the country, there are signs that the sector is diversifying away from public sector contracts and increasingly catering to businesses and households. Well-known global players such as FedEx, DHL and UPS are active in the local market, but there are also several home-grown logistics businesses that have established themselves as regional leaders. LOOKING LOCALLY: Agility’s Global Integrated Logistics arm is one of the biggest players. It was set up as a state-owned entity called Public Warehousing

Stuart Tait-Regional Head of Commercial Banking-Asia Pacific

Big spender: Major investments are planned across the sector

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Despite the drop in global oil prices since 2014, Kuwait has announced ambitious plans to invest $100bn on oil and gas projects between 2015 and 2020. Investment will be split between upstream investments to raise Kuwait’s output capacity and downstream projects to increase the country’s share of the energy value chain globally. The investment programme is also in line with the country’s broader aim to increase oil output capacity. Diversifying and expanding crude oil production, which is currently heavily reliant on the ageing Burgan field, is of strategic interest for Kuwait. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) has indicated that approximately 60% of total investment, or $60bn,

Daniel Asare-Kyei-CEO-Esoko; Curtis Vanderpuije-CEO-ExpressPay; and Daniel Marfo-General Manager-Zipline Ghana

At the core of development: Numerous large-scale construction projects have been developed in partnership with private sector players

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Kuwait’s construction sector has witnessed significant growth over the last year, as the government has approved a number of major infrastructure and development projects across key sectors. While there are concerns that some projects may be delayed, the government has taken a number of steps to help assure players in the construction industry that this wave of momentum will be sustained into 2015 and beyond. STRENGTHENING THE PIPELINE: In July 2014 the government approved a new Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Law, which is expected to serve

Daniel Asare-Kyei-CEO-Esoko; Curtis Vanderpuije-CEO-ExpressPay; and Daniel Marfo-General Manager-Zipline Ghana

An eye online: Cybersecurity gets more attention in the region

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Regional and global trends indicate people are conducting an increasing number of transactions over digital networks and storing more of their data online. This has shifted the security requirements of governments, corporations and citizens alike, as high-profile security breaches at large corporations and government offices around the globe have brought the issue of securing digital content into focus over the past decade. Kuwait, which depends heavily on its oil and gas industry, is particularly aware of the need to improve the protection of its assets and information through a greater focus on digital safeguards and cybersecurity. The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation – the country’s national oil