Friday 29 March 2024
 
»
 
»
Story

Kuwait gives GFH deadline on AGM

Kuwait, May 6, 2014

Kuwait's financial regulator has given Bahrain-based investment firm Gulf Finance House until Sunday to hold its annual general meeting (AGM) and approve 2013 results or face a suspension of its Kuwait-listed shares.

The watchdog, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), has been tightening oversight on corporate disclosure as it attempts to promote investor confidence in the Gulf state's financial sector.

A Reuters survey of a dozen international fund managers this year found they ranked Kuwait lowest among five big Middle Eastern markets for corporate disclosure.

The CMA has asked the stock market to suspend Gulf Finance House's (GFH) shares if it fails to meet the deadline, a Monday filing on Kuwait's stock exchange showed.

GFH said in a statement on the Bahraini bourse, where it is dual-listed, that it had filed a petition against the CMA decision, without giving further details.

The company reported its fourth-quarter and full-year results on February 23. It said it made a net profit of $5.2 million in the three months to December 31, up from $2.5 million in the prior-year period. For 2013, its net profit fell 37.2 percent to $6.3 million.

Under Kuwaiti regulations, companies must approve their annual results at an AGM within 45 days of reporting them.

Last month GFH, through its Dubai-based subsidiary GFH Capital, sold its majority stake in English soccer club Leeds United - which it bought in December 2012 - to Italian Massimo Cellino.

The firm is expected to report first-quarter results on May 14, according to Thomson Reuters data. - Reuters




Tags: Kuwait | GFH | AGM |

More Finance & Capital Market Stories

calendarCalendar of Events

Ads