Kuwait Projects Company (Kipco) said it was on track to meet this year's profit goal of up to KD110 million ($414.9 million) after its second-quarter profit grew 30 per cent on higher fee income.

Kuwait's biggest investment firm by market value cited growth in its financial services units, including asset management and investment banking, as drivers of net profit, which hit KD28.48 million in the second quarter, compared with KD21.99 million a year earlier.

Kipco, which intends to expand in the region amid an oil-fuelled economic boom, said profit excluded a one-off gain from the sale of its stake in National Mobile Telecommunications Company (Wataniya) last year.

"We're confident to reach that goal," Kipco spokesman Rob Hipkins said when asked about the firm's KD105 million to 110 million profit forecast for this year unveiled in March.

Kipco chief executive Faisal Al Ayyar described the performance of the firm's financial services businesses as "excellent".

Other holdings of Kipco, which owns stakes in 50 companies and operates in 21 countries, had also met expectations, Ayyar said.

Quarterly revenues soared 80 per cent to KD126.82 million, compared with KD70.45 million a year earlier, Kipco said.

Kipco, which sold its Wataniya stake for $3.72 billion, has said it wants to set up units for commercial banking and investment banking as part of plans to expand outside of a home market where competition is intensifying.

But market conditions are tough, Ayyar acknowledged. "Half-year figures have been achieved despite unsettled market conditions," he said.

Kuwait's central bank has tightened lending curbs to tackle inflation at a record 10.14 per cent in February, the latest published data.

Profit growth at its commercial banking unit Burgan Bank slowed to 6.3pc in the second-quarter from 9pc in the prior quarter.

Like smaller local rival Investment Dar, Kipco has positioned itself to whether any downturn by expanding outside of Kuwait to diversify its revenue sources.

Kipco's assets grew 15 per cent to KD4.83 billion at the end of last month, compared with total assets at Investment Dar of KD1.32 billion at the end of March.