Americana posts 31% second-quarter net profit gain

Kuwait Food did not provide any reason for the increase in profit.

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Kuwait Food, or Americana, posted a 31 per cent increase in its second-quarter net profit on Monday.

The operator of restaurant franchises such as KFC in the Middle East made a net profit of 9.03 million Kuwaiti dinars (Dh109.8m) in the three-month period ending June 30, up from 6.88 million dinars in the same period a year ago, it said in a bourse statement.

The company did not provide any reason for the increase in profit. It said the operating profit declined because of Ramadan.

Americana’s major shareholder, Kuwait’s billionaire Al Kharafi family, signed an agreement on June 18 to sell its 69 per cent holding to Adeptio Group, an investment group led Emaar Properties chairman Mohamed Alabbar.

Under a legally binding agreement with Al Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate, controlled by Al Kharafis, all of Al Khair’s Americana shares would be bought at 2.65 dinars each, Adeptio said at the time.

Adeptio was in advanced talks with banks to secure a US$1.65 billion bridge loan to fund its purchase, banking sources said on June 22.

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