Medicare Group profit jumps 15% to QR45mn

Medicare Group has reported a 15% growth in its net operational profit to QR44.80mn in 2012.

In view of its profitability, the group has recommended an 18% cash dividend to be approved by shareholders at an annual general assembly, which will be convened at a later date.

This was reflected in the earnings-per-share which yielded QR1.60 per share compared to QR1.39 per share in 2011 and announced by Medicare chairman Sheikh Abdulla bin Thani al-Thani after the board meeting yesterday.

The hospice group’s performance has been attributed mainly to the increased numbers of appointed physicians and the opening of new departments and supporting others by increasing the capacity to the hospital’s visiting-guest clinics and in-house guest accommodation, according to Abdulwahed al-Mawlawi, managing director and CEO of Al-Ahli Hospital and Medicare Group.

Arab Potash

Jordan’s Arab Potash Company, one of the world’s largest producers of potash, said 2012 net profit fell by more than a third as costs rose, while falling global demand weighed on output.

Profits fell 34% to 198.8mn dinars ($280mn), the firm said in a statement.

Chairman Jamal al-Sarayrah said the results reflected the drop in global demand for potash, a main ingredient for fertiliser, along with a “rise in production costs due to higher electricity, water, fuel prices and wages.”

Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, the world’s largest producer, owns 27.9% of Arab Potash. Several Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, have minority holdings.

The firm’s production of potash dropped 1.8mn tonnes from around 2.2mn tonnes in 2011, according to industry executives.

The results are the first fall in profits since 2009 when Arab Potash began a gradual recovery driven by robust prices due to higher demand for fertiliser, especially in India and China.

Kuwait Finance House

Kuwait’s biggest Islamic lender, Kuwait Finance House (KFH) reported a 24% rise in fourth-quarter net profit yesterday thanks to its restructuring programme but the numbers fell short of analyst estimates.

KFH said last year it was reshuffling its top management and planned to work with advisors to sell, merge or restructure unprofitable subsidiaries after a fall in profits in 2011.

“The growth in KFH’s 2012 financial results confirms the success of KFH’s Transformation Programme,” KFH chairman Mohammad al-Khudairi, said in an emailed statement, saying this had put the group on the right track for sustainable profits.

In the fourth quarter of 2012 net profit was 11.8mn Kuwaiti dinars, according to a Reuters calculation based on financial statements, compared to 9.54mn dinars in the same period a year earlier.

Four analysts in a Reuters survey had predicted 32.78mn dinars net profit on average for the quarter to end-December.

The board proposed a 10% cash dividend and 10% bonus shares for shareholders, KFH said.

Wataniya Q4 falls 26.5%

Wataniya, Kuwait’s No 2 telecom operator, reported a 26.5% fall in fourth-quarter net profit as more customers failed to offset tougher competition at home and foreign exchange losses in Tunisia and Algeria.

The firm, a subsidiary of Qatar Telecom (Qtel), made a net profit of 12.6mn dinars ($44.78mn) in the three months to December 31, down from 17.1mn dinars in the year-earlier period, it said in a statement.

EFG Hermes forecast quarterly profit of 18mn dinars.

“Foreign exchange impacts again impacted profitability and competitive dynamics in Kuwait remain challenging,” chairman Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud al-Thani said.

Wataniya’s annual profit fell to 75.5mn dinars, down from 362.1mn dinars a year earlier.

The firm’s 2011 profit was boosted by a fair value gain of 265.3mn dinars after it upped its stake in Tunisiana to 75% from 50%. Without this fair value gain, its 2011 net profit would have been 96.8mn dinars.

Wataniya wants to more than double its annual dividend despite the profit slump, proposing a cash pay-out of 125 fils per share for 2012. For the financial years 2007 to 2011, it paid dividends of 50 fils per share, Reuters data showed. There are 1,000 fils in a dinar.

In Kuwait, Wataniya competes with Zain and Viva, an affiliate of Saudi Telecom Co, while it also has operations in Algeria, Tunisia, the Maldives, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Territories.

The company’s full-year domestic revenue slumped by nearly a tenth despite it recruiting more local customers.

Its total consolidated customer base was 19.2mn at the end of December, up 7.8% from a year earlier. Algeria and Tunisia accounted for 16.25mn customers combined.

Full-year net profit for 2012 attributable to Wataniya from Tunisiana fell to 35.2mn dinars from 39.6mn dinars in 2011. The 11.1% drop was in line with a decrease in the Tunisian dinar against the dollar last year, Wataniya said.

Kuwait’s currency is pegged to a basket of currencies, of which the dollar is thought to be the largest component.

Wataniya’s full-year profit from Algerian unit Nedjma nearly doubled to 19.6mn dinars.

Quarterly revenue was 183.4mn dinars, Reuters’ calculations showed, against 186.5mn dinars a year ago.