Kingdom Holding Co. (KHC) said Tuesday its second quarter net profit rose 21 percent on year to SR163.5 million ($43.6 million), due mainly to higher income from investments. First-half earnings per share came in at SR0.07, compared with SR0.06 a year earlier, while second-quarter operating income rose 4.7 percent to SR183.5 million, Kingdom said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse website. “The reason for the change in net income is due to an increase in income from investments and dividends income,” the company said, adding that the performances from associate companies and hotel operations were hit by the political woes in the Middle East. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, who owns 95 percent of KHC, has focused his investments on banks, hotels and media companies, building sizable stakes in companies such as Citigroup Inc., News Corp., Apple Inc. and Time Warner Inc. In April, Kingdom Holding and Bahrain Telecommunication Co., or Batelco, signed a non-binding term sheet to buy 25 percent stake of the Saudi unit of Kuwait-based Mobile Telecommunications Co. (Zain) for about $1.2 billion. The two companies have until the end of August to conduct due diligence for the deal. KHC in May said it and its chairman invested $400 million in Swiss commodities trader Glencore International PLC's recent initial public offering. The transaction represents 3.6 percent of the value of Glencore's subscriptions. Kingdom Holding shares closed trading Tuesday unchanged at SR7.75. The company added that Q2 net profit was 80 percent higher than the previous quarter. The reason for the change in net income was due to an increase in income from investments and dividends income, the company statement added. However, the company also saw a decrease in performance from associate companies, and hotel operations due to a recent result in the Middle East market, it added. Last week, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said there would be no change in his Kingdom Holding's investment in News Corp. “No change, my investment is strategic, not thinking of selling anything. The crisis does not make Kingdom Holding blink at all. It makes our partnership stronger.” News Corp. owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newswire and The Wall Street Journal.
