KSE measure slips amid profit taking – Americana gains 40 fils; Zain falls

This news has been read 6520 times!

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 26: Kuwait stocks eased slightly on Monday snapping the two-day advance. The bourse fell 3.9 pts in lackluster trade to 5,804.05 points weighed by profit taking in select mid and small caps. Some of the banks shone even as investors digested the latest quarterly earnings.

The KSX 15 gauge fell 1.25 pts to 934.75 points, almost unchanged from start of the month, while weighted index inched 0.04 pts lower. The volume turnover meanwhile soared past the 200 million mark for the first time during the month largely on speculative trading. 207.27 million shares changed hands – a 41.46 pct surge from Sunday.

The sectors closed mixed during the session. Basic materials outshone the rest with 1.39 pct gain whereas financial services slid over 1 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, real estate accounted for the highest market share of 38.37 pct while financial services and oil and gas trailed behind with 18 percent and 14.5 pct contributions respectively.

Among the prominent movers, Commercial Bank of Kuwait rose 10 fils to KD 0.510 and Ahli United Bank was up by same measure to end at KD 0.550. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) climbed 40 fils to KD 2.300 taking the month’s gains to 20 fils and Humansoft Holding Co vaulted 80 fils.

Telecom major Zain fell 5 fils to KD 0.380 after trading 2.9 million shares whereas Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) held the ground steady at KD 1.020. Kuwait Telecommunica-tions Co (VIVA) was unchanged at KD 0.870 off early lows and Agility too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.570.

Sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait was flat at KD 0.830 with a volume of over 2 million whereas Kuwait Finance House was down 10 fils at KD 0.560. 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

The market opened flat and eased briefly into red in early trade. The main index nudged back into positive zone to hit the day’s highest level of 5,816.01 pts before heading south again as profit taking kicked in. It continued to drift lower and bottomed at 5789.61 pts before clawing back most of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Humansoft Holding spiked 8 percent to KD 1.080 while Mashaer Holding climbed 7.55 percent to stand close behind. Qurain Holding slid 11.76 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Safat Energy topped the volume with over 28 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s downtick, the losers outnumbered the winners. 46 stocks advanced whereas 54 closed lower. Of the 142 counters active on Monday, 42 closed flat. 4,157 deals worth KD 15.56 million were transacted – a 27.7 pct surge in value from the day before.

National Insdustries Group dialed up 2 fils to end at KD 0.148 whereas Metal and Recycling Co and Gulf Cable gave up 5 fils each. Kuwait Portland Cement and Kuwait Cement Co were steady at KD 0.375 and KD 1.140 respectively.

Dropped

ACICO Industries dropped 15 fils to KD 0.280 and Shuaiba Industrial Co was down 10 fils at KD 0.365. Equipment Holding Co inched 1 fils up on back of 3.8 million shares and Kuwait National Cinema Co paused at KD 0.950. City Group fell 5 fils to KD 0.395.

Jazeera Airways was flat at KD 0.485 and ALAFCO followed suit. The company has posted a net profit of KD 16.04 million and earnings per share of 19.59 fils in the nine-month period ending September 30, 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 16.52 million and earnings per share of 20.18 fils in the same period of 2014.

IFA Hotels and Resorts Co shed 20 fils and Independent Petroleum Group Co. was down 10 fils. The company has posted a net profit of KD 1.599 million in the 9-month period ended Sep 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 25.08 fils in the same period last year.

Burgan Well Drilling Co rose 5 fils to 82 fils and Mezzan Holding rallied 20 fils to KD 1.100. Mashaer Holding climbed 8 fils and Nafais Holding Co pulled 10 fils into red.

In the banking sector, Burgan Bank was unchanged at KD 0.395 and Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait added 5 fils. The banks has logged net profit of KD 29.22 million and earnings per share of 18 fils in the nine-month period ending Sept 30, 2015.

Kuwait International Bank held steady at KD 0.232 and Gulf Bank followed suit. Warba Bank clipped 2 fils and Ithmaar Bank inched 0.5 fils lower.

National Investment Co was flat at KD 0.112 and KIPCO too paused 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 .

Tamdeen Investment Co dived 25 fils to KD 0.300 while Tamdeen Real Estate Co and Mabanee Co gained 20 fils each.

The bourse has been mixed during the week and has gained 24 points in last two days. It has climbed 76 points from start of the month and is trading 11.19 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

This news has been read 6520 times!