Kuwait bourse closes up in choppy session – Agility rallies 31 fils; Humansoft Holding dips

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KUWAIT CITY, July 18: Kuwait stocks headed north on Tuesday after slipping into shallow trough in the last session. The price index rose 12.2 points in choppy trade to 6,813.11 pts helped by renewed buying in select counters. The heavyweights largely ended in the positive territory.

The KSX 15 benchmark climbed 3.13 points to 927.89 pts while weighted index was up 2 pts at 407.37 points. The volume turnover meanwhile was up for the third straight session. 92.56 million shares changed hands – a 18 pct rise from the day before.

Among day’s movers, Commercial Bank rose 5 fils to 330 fils while KIPCO added 3 fils to settle at 345 fils. Mabanee Co rallied 11 fils to 770 fils extending Monday’s uptick whereas Humansoft Holding shed 20 fils.

Zain rose 2 fils to 430 fils and Ooredoo jumped 49 fils to KD 1.199. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) slipped 10 fils to 815 fils whereas Agility rallied 31 fils on back of 3.7 million shares.

National Bank of Kuwait eased 1 fil and Gulf Bank added 3 fils. The bank has registered a 12.3 pct rise in the second quarter profits to KD 13.4 m from same period last year. In the first half , profits was up 10 percent at KD 22.76 mln.

The market opened on weak note and climbed higher in early in early trade. The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 6817.44 pts amid buying in select counters and retreated thereafter. It plumbed the day’s lowest mark of 6,789.36 points in the final minutes before rebounding back into the green zone.

Top gainer of the day, Masaken rallied 15.38 pct to 75 fils and Sanam Real Estate Co climbed 15 fils to stand close behind. Warba Insurance Co slumped 13.22 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Ithmaar Bank topped the volume with 8.6 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s upswing, the winners outnumbered the losers. 63 stocks advanced whereas 41 closed lower. Of the 127 counters active on Tuesday, 23 closed flat.

National Industries Group took in 2 fils with a volume of 6.6 million and Gulf Cable was up 5 fils at 440 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co was flat at 205 fils whereas Shuaiba Industries fell 4 fils to 286 fils. NICBM was flat at 180 fils.

Jazeera Airways climbed 6 fils to 490 fils and Alafco gained 4 fils. The company’s earnings surged 49 pct to KD 5.78 million in third quarter ended 30 June from same period last year. During the nine-month period ended 30 June 2017, the profits soared 66.7 pct to KD 16.57 million.

Kuwait Portland Cement rose 2 fils to 922 fils while Metal and Recycling Co climbed 12 fils to 120 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co and Educational Holding Co paused at 564 fils and 349 fils respectively whereas Al Qurain Petrochemical gave up 3 fils.

Clipped

NAPESCO and Burgan Well Drilling Co were unchanged at KD 1.500 and 91 fils respectively while Automated Systems Co clipped 2 fils. ACICO Industries inched 1 fil into green and Equipment Holding eased 0.1 fil. KCPC stood pat at 155 fils.

Combined Group Contracting Co took in 1 fil and OSOS was up 2 fils at 132 fils. YIACO dipped 9 fils to 172 fils and Al Rai Media Group dialed up 2 fils. Mezzan Holding was unchanged at 948 fils.

In the banking sector, Kuwait Finance House was flat at 501 fils and Al Mutahed too did not budge from its earlier close of 405 fils. Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session.

Burgan Bank and Boubyan Bank took in 1 fil each to wind up at 336 fils and 408 fils respectively whereas Kuwait International Bank slipped 3 fils. Warba Bank closed 1 fil up at 266 fils.

National Investment Co rose 2 fils to 103 fils and Coast Investment Co dialed up 1.3 fils. International Financial Advisors edged 1.1 fils up and Securities House Co added 1 fil. Arzan closed 0.5 fils higher at 34.5 fils.

KAMCO inched 0.1 fil into green and UNICAP fell 3.1 fils. The ordinary general meeting of Unicap has approved the board’s recommendation for a dividend of 5% as bonus shares for fiscal year 2016.

Bayan Investment Co rose 1.6 fils to 53.9 fils while Noor Financial Investment Co stood pat at 51.5 fils. Sokouk Holding trimmed 0.2 fils and Ektittab Holding gave up 0.5 fils.

Al Imtiaz added 2 fils and Kuwait Insurance Co gained 10 fils. KFIC inched 1 fil up and Amwal Investment Co edged 1.1 fils up. Wethaq Takaful gave up 2 fils to close at 53 fils.  National Real Estate Co climbed 4 fils to 125 fils and Kuwait Real Estate Co clipped 0.4 fils. Mazaya Holding was unchanged at 118 fils off slight early highs and Remal was up 1 fil at 76 fils.

AREEC jumped 20 fils to 160 fils and Marakez eased 1 fil to 42.5 fils. Abyaar Real Estate fell 0.4 fils to 23.7 fils.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has climbed 24 points in last three sessions. It has rallied 157 points from start of the month and is trading 18.53 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Aqar Real Estate Investment’s second quarter profits surged 27 pct to KD 350,410 mln from same period last year helped by increase of rent revenues. The revenues rose 23.4 percent to KD 687,320 in the first half while operating revenues climbed 21.6 percent to KD 987,070.

S&P Global Ratings has affirmed “A-/A-2” long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on Gulf Bank. The rating agency also revised its outlook on the bank to “positive” from “stable”.

National Real Estate’s (NREC) ordinary general meeting has approved raising its capital to KD 150 million, by issuing 1.5 billion shares at a nominal value of 100 fils each. The company’s current capital stands at KD 98.97 million.

KAMCO has sold a controlling stake worth 25.3 million pounds in a British property leased to Amazon UK Services Ltd. The deal will results in a drop of 56 million pounds while and the liabilities will see a 56.5 million dip.

Educational Holding Group has posted a 13 pct drop in profits in the quarter ended 31 May 2017. The profits totaled KD 1.14 million as against KD 1.31 million in the same period last year. In the nine-month period ending May 30, the earnings grew 22 pct to KD 4.32m.

Fitch Ratings upgraded GFH Financial Group’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) from “B-” to “B”, with a “Positive” outlook.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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