Kuwait bourse extends gains in ‘choppy’ trade – Zain dials up 2 fils; Ooredoo dips

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KUWAIT CITY, July 12: Kuwait stocks pulled higher on Wednesday, extending the gains to seventh consecutive day. The bourse rose 15.9 pts in choppy trade to 6,794.52 points even as the broader market sentiment remained mixed. The heavyweights were largely muted.

The KXS 15 gauge was unchanged at 923.22 pts and is up 13 points during the month while weighted index too was little changed at 404.96 points. The volume turnover meanwhile ticked slightly higher. 99.74 million shares changed hands – down 0.18 pct from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in the green zone. Technology outled the rest with 8.76 pct gain whereas parallel market slipped 0.79 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, real estate mustered the highest market share of 34.15 pct and financial services was close behind with 33 percent contribution.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait inched 1 fil up to 687 fils on back of 1.6 million shares and KIPCO slightly reversed Tuesday’s gains with a 2 fils drop to 348 fils. Mabanee Co fell 1 fil to 769 fils.

Zain took in 2 fils to close at 439 fils and Ooredoo slid 25 fils partly erasing last session’s gains. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) dipped 10 fils and Agility stood pat at 795 fils.

Gulf Bank dialed up 2 fils while Burgan Bank held ground at 333 fils. Burgan Bank has registered a 24.6% year-on-year increase in its profits to KD 17.81 for the first quarter of 2017.

The market opened flat and climbed higher in early trade. The price index dipped sharply into red to plumb the day’s lowest level of 6765.18 pts and rebounded back to positive territory. It traded choppy thereafter and revved up in the final minutes to close with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, AREEC  spiked 13 pct to 156 fils while OSOS climbed 11.4 percent to stand next. Sanam Real Estate Co slumped 20 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz topped the volume with over 14 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s gains the winners outnumbered the losers. 56 stocks advanced whereas 40 closed lower. Of the 122 counters active on Wednesday, 26 closed flat. 3,711 deals worth KD 13.8 million were transacted – a 4.8 pct rise in value from the day before.

National Industries Group was flat at 123 fils after trading over 1 million shares and Gulf Cable took in 1 fil. Boubyan Petrochemical Co fell 3 fils to 557 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co added 3 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries Shipbuilding Co was unchanged at 209 fils.

Jazeera Airways took in 1 fil and ALAFCO was up 3 fils at 321 fils. Educational Holding Group dipped 10 fils to 350 fils while Metal and Recycling Co climbed 77 fils to 87 fils.

Kuwait Portland Cement Co rose 10 fils to 930 fils and Automated Systems Co added 3 fils. Equipment Holding Co inched 0.2 fils into red and NICBM was down 5 fils at 180 fils. Kuwait Cable Vision Co eased 0.4 fil to 30.5 fils.

Flat

Humansoft Holding was flat at KD 4.260 and Acico Industries gave up 3 fils. The company’s first quarter profits rose by 0.78 pct to KD 3.88 mln as compared to KD 3.85 million in Q1 of 2016.

NAPESCO was flat at KD 1.560 and KCPC dipped 15 fils to 150 fils. Burgan Well Drilling Co climbed 9 fils to 91 fils. AWJ Holding edged 0.4 fil up and Al Rai Media Group dialed up 2 fils.

Mezzan Holding rose 3 fils to 945 fils and Zimah Holding took in 2 fils to close at 52.9 fils. Eyas For Higher and Technical Education paused at 900 fils.

In the banking sector, Commercial Bank was up 2 fils at 314 fils whereas Al Mutahed stood pat at 398 fils. Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session.

Kuwait Finance House and Boubyan Bank took in 1 fil each to close at 494 fils and 410 fils respectively while Kuwait International Bank clipped 2 fils. Warba Bank slipped 6 fils to 263 fils.

National Investment Co inched 1 fils higher to 104 fils and International Financial Advisors eased 0.5 fil. Coast Investment Co trimmed 0.4 fil and Securities House Co inched 0.1 fil lower. Alaman was up 1 fil at 43.5 fil.

Bayan Investment Co edged 1 fil into green and KAMCO slipped 7.1 fils. The company’s profits surged by 111.6% in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 285,990 from KD 135,150 in same period of 2016. Operational profits soared 445.4% to KD 707,320.

Sokouk Holding took in 0.5 fil on back of over 1 million shares and Aayan added 1.5 fils with a volume of 3.7 million. Al Deera Holding nudged 0.6 fils higher and Al Madina was up 0.8 fil at 46 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co was flat at 52 fils and Kuwait Reinsurance Co too did not budge from its earlier close of 186 fils. First Takaful Insurance Co dialed up 2 fils.

National Real Estate Co rose 2 fils to 117 fils and Kuwait Real Estate Co erased 0.5 fils fil. AQAR slipped 62 fils and Mazaya Holding edged 1 fil higher. REMAL was down 1.9 fils at 78.1 fils.

The market has been upbeat so far during the week and has gained 113 points in last four sessions. It has rallied 130 points so far during the month and is trading 18.2 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Kuwait Finance and Investment (KFIC) rebounded to post a net profit of KD 146,350 in the first three months of 2017, from KD 255,510 loss in first quarter of 2016. Operating income grew 76% year-on-year to reach KD 1.65 million.

Aayan Real Estate has recorded a 164.7 percent jump in its profits to KD 536,890 for the first quarter of 2017 from same period in the year before.

During 2016, the profit saw a 1.5% uptick to KD 2.75 million in 2016 from the previous year.

Ooredoo Kuwait has posted 26.6 pct jump in profits during the first quarter of 2017 to KD 12.93 million from KD 10.21 million in same period last year. It had recorded a growth of 75% in profits to KD 46.67 million during 2016.

Mowasat Healthcare has registered a a 40.2% increase in net profits in the first quarter of 2017, to reach KD 1.92 million as compared to KD 1.37 million in the year before period.

Al Ahleia Insurance’s first quarter net profit dropped by 14.5% in the first to KD 2.88 million from KD 3.37 million in Q1 of 2016. Operational income dipped 39.6 pct to KD 1.58 million

National Ranges Company’s (Mayadeen) losses shrank by 18.2 pct in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 642,620 from about KD 785,610 in same period of 2016.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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