KSE extends decline in lackluster trading – Humansoft Holding dives 80 fils; NBK flat

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KUWAIT CITY, Oct 27: Kuwait stocks pulled lower on Tuesday extending the decline to second straight session. The price index dropped 12.08 pts in lackluster trade to 5791.97 points weighed by some of the mid and small caps. The banks and other heavyweights were largely muted even as oil prices remained weak on supply glut fears.

The KSX 15 benchmark eased 0.77 pts to 933.98 pts, almost unchanged from start of the month, while weighted index edged 0.56 pts lower. The volume turnover meanwhile slipped below the 200 million mark after rebounding in the last session. 144.72 million shares changed hands – a 30.18 pct drop from Monday.

The sectors closed mostly in the red turf. Parallel market outperformed the rest with 0.43 percent gain while basic materials shed 1.37 pct, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, real estate clocked the highest market share of 44.13 pct while financial services and oil and gas trailed far behind with 23.43 pct and 9.94 percent contributions respectively.

Among the losers, Humansoft Holding Co slid 80 fils to KD 1.000 erasing the gains on Monday while NAPESCO was down 20 fils to settle at KD 0.600. Mabanee Co gave up 10 fils to close at KD 0.880 and Boubyan Petrochemicals Co followed suit.

Telecom major Zain was unchanged at KD 0.380 off slight early lows and Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 1.020. Kuwait Telecommunications (VIVA) held steady at KD 0.870 off early lows and Agility followed suit to end at KD 0.570.

National Bank of Kuwait was flat at KD 0.830 after trading 1.3 million shares and Kuwait Finance House followed suit. The bank has clocked a net profit of KD 105,70 million and earnings per share of 22.54 fils in the January-September period of 2015 as against net profit of KD 90.09 million and earnings per share of 19.22 fils in 9M of 2014.

The market opened firm and edged higher in early trade. The key index hit the day’s highest level of 5,816.87 pts and eased thereafter as sentiment turned weak. It slipped into red in the second half to bottom at 5791.63 pts before clawing back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Real Estate Trade Center (Marakez) climbed 7.69 pct to 35 fils and Gulf Petroleum Industries stood next with 7.22 pct jump. Humansoft tumbled 7.41 pct, the steepest decline of the day and Al Dar National Real Estate Co topped the volume with over 21 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s retreat, the losers outnumbered the winners. 34 stocks advanced whereas 44 closed lower. Of the 127 counters active on Tuesday, 49 closed flat. 3010 deals worth KD 9.5 million were transacted – a 38.84 pct drop in value from the day before.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of the Kharafi Group fell 2 fils to KD 0.146 whereas RISCO and Gulf Cable held steady at KD 0.325 and KD 0.415 respectively. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co slipped 6 fils and Shuaiba Industrial Co jumped 25 fils.

ACICO Industries rose 10 fils to KD 0.290 and Independent Petroleum Group Co followed suit. The company has posted a net profit of KD 1.599 million in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2015 while earnings per share came in at 11.05 fils. This compares with net profit of KD 3.627 million and earnings per share of last 25.08 fils in the same period last year.

Edged

Kuwait and Gulf Transport Co edged 0.5 fils up to 46 fils and KGL Logistics Co nudged 2 fils into green. Equipment Holding Co inched 1 fils down to 71 fils and Kuwait Cable Vision Co dialed up 2 fils to close at 30 fils. Burgan Well Drilling Co rose 4 fils .

Jazeera Airways gave up 5 fils whereas ALAFCO was up 2 fils to KD 0.224. Jeeran Holding Co and United Projects Group were flat at 66 fils and KD 0.740 respectively while Zima Holding took in 2 fils to end at 82 fils.

Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) was unchanged at KD 2.300 while Kout Food Group gained 10 fils. Mezzan Holding held the ground unchanged at KD 1.100.

In the banking sector Ahli United Bank was flat at KD 0.550 and Burgan Bank followed suit to close at KD 0.395. Boubyan Bank paused at KD 0.440 and Kuwait International Bank clipped 2 fils. Ithmaar Bank and Warba Bank too stagnated at KD 0.208 and 48 fils respectively

Al Ahli Bank and Commercial Bank of Kuwait were not traded during the session. CBK has clocked a net profit of KD 25.40 million and earnings per share of 18 fils in the nine-month period ending September 30, 2015

National Investment Co dropped 4 fils to KD 0.108 and KIPCO held the ground steady at KD 0.580. The company has won the approval of Capital Markets Authority for its request to buy back or sell up to 10 percent of own shares over a period of 6 months

Salhia Real Estate climbed 10 fils to KD 0.320 whereas Mabanee Co slipped 10 fils. National Real Estate Co fell 2 fils to 84 fils and Al Mazaya Holding followed suit.

The bourse has been mixed during the week and has added 12 points in last three days. It has gained 64 points from start of the month and is trading 11.36 pct lower year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Warba Bank has recorded a net profit of KD 1.25 million and earnings per share 1.25 fils in the first nine-months of the year as compared to net profit of KD 318,000 and earnings per share of 0.32 fils in the 9M of 2014.

Boubyan International Industries Holding Company has incurred a net loss of KD 2.21 million and loss per share of 7.38 fils in the year ending 31 July 2015 narrowing from a net loss of KD 3.87 million and loss per share of 12.91 fils in the previous year.

Kuwait Real Estate Company has registered a net profit of KD 2.39 million and earnings per share of 2.64 fils in the first six-months of 2015 as against net profit of KD 3.49 million and earnings per share same of 3.86 fils in the same period last year.

Gulf Cement Company has posted a net profit of KD 2.45 million and earnings per share of 0.003 fils in the first half of 2015, down from KD 3.36 million net profit and earnings per share of 0.004 fils in the same period last year.

Al Dar National Real Estate Co has incurred a net loss of KD 132,850 and loss per share of 0.32 fils in the six-month period ending June 30, 2015 as against net profit of KD 761,352 and earnings per share of 1.85 fils in the same period of 2014.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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