Kuwait's Agility Q3 net up 15pct, beats forecasts

Kuwait's Agility, the Gulf's biggest logistics firm by market value, posted a 15-per-cent rise in third-quarter profit, beating forecasts.

Net income in the three months to September 30 came in at 40.5 million dinars ($142.1 million), up from 35.2m dinars in the year-earlier period, Agility said in a statement on Tuesday.

Coast Investment had forecast third quarter net profit of 37.69m dinars, while Shuaa Capital expected 38m.

"Our government business and emerging markets platform have been important hedges against the global recession, and our internal transformation efforts are yielding bottom line results," Chairman Tarek Sultan said in the statement.

Agility, which operates in 120 countries, has been trying to lower its dependence on US government deals to supply troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by moving to new markets and making a string of buys. It now also makes money from real estate.

The firm made net profit of 115.5m dinars in the first nine months, up 7 per cent from the same period a year earlier, it said.

Sultan told Reuters in April the firm is aiming for a major acquisition in Asian emerging countries and is hoping to see growth in its revenues this year.

Earnings per share were 40.3 fils in the third quarter, up 19 per cent from the year-earlier period, Agility said. There are 1,000 fils to the dinar.

Agility's shares were down 1.64 per cent, underperforming the main benchmark which closed 0.24 per cent down on Tuesday. Earnings were released after trading hours.