Kuwait bourse extends losses in volatile trade – Mabanee Co sheds 10 fils; KFH gains

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 2: Kuwait stocks headed south on Wednesday extending its losses to second straight session. The price index dipped 18.72 pts in volatile session to 6,823.95 points as selling continued to weigh on many counters and sentiment remained soggy amid pullback in oil prices.

The KSX 15 gauge eased 0.4 pts to 944.13 points while weighted index trimmed 0.61 points to close at 413.12 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile saw an uptick for the second consecutive day. Over 70 million shares changed hands — 15 pct rise from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in red turf. Oil and gas outpaced the rest with a 0.41 pct gain whereas technology slid 2.25 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services notched the highest market share of 46.5 pct and real estate trailed with 22 pct contribution.

Among the notable losers, Gulf Bank and Burgan Bank clipped 2 fils each to close at 244 fils and 352 fils respectively while Mabanee Co was down 10 fils at 780 fils partly erasing the gains in the last session. Gulf Insurance Co dipped 29 fils to 601 fils.

Zain fell 3 fils to 443 fils reversing Tuesday’s uptick and Ooredoo shed 10 fils before settling at KD 1.123. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) slipped 4 fils and Agility stood pat at 835 fils after vacillating in a tight range.

Kuwait Finance House rose 4 fils on back of 1.7 million shares and Ahli Bank of Kuwait took in 2 fils. The bank has recorded a profit of KD 7.7 million in April –June quarter , a 5.6 pct increase from second quarter of last year. During first half period, earnings rose 7.7% to KD 16.21m.

The market opened on a tame note and slipped into red in early trade. The main index climbed back to the opening mark and headed lower again as sentiment turned negative. It plumbed the day’s lowest level of 6,809.29 pts in the final minutes before clawing back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Burgan Well Drilling Co soared 20 percent to 90 fils and First Takaful Insurance jumped 17.45 percent to stand next. Al Mudon slid 6.57 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz Investment Co topped the volume with 13.9 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s drop, the losers vastly outnumbered the winners. 25 stocks advanced whereas 68 closed flat. Of the 117 counters active on Wednesday, 24 closed flat. 2,618 deals worth KD 9.2 million were transacted — a 14.4 pct increase in value from the day before.

National Industries Group fell 3 fils to 136 fils after trading over 2 million shares and Gulf Cable climbed 6 fils to 436 fils with razor thin volume. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co was flat at 205 fils and Al Kout Industries gave up 10 fils before closing at 600 fils.

Jazeera Airways climbed 20 fils to 500 fils and ACICO Industries dialed up 2 fils to end at 257 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Industries inched 1 fil into red and Al Qurain Petrochemical Industries gave up 2 fils.

Eased

NAPESCO eased 1 fil to 949 fils and Human Soft Holding closed flat. The company has recorded a 19.9 pct rise in second quarter profits to KD 6.03 million from Q2 of previous year. In the first half of 2017, the earnings rose 17.3 percent to KD 13.17 million.

Equipment Holding Co fell 0.4 fil to 49.2 fils and NCCI slipped 5 fils to 80 fils. Kuwait Cable Vision and Automated Systems Co paused at 27.9 fils and 180 fils respectively while Educational Holding Group climbed 9 fils to 369 fils.

Combined Group Contracting Co and Al Rai Media Group were unchanged a 565 fils and 119 fils respectively whereas Inovest rose 4 fils to 123 fils. Eyas For Higher and Technical Education slipped 5 fils to 855 fils.

OSOS fell 4 fils to 127 fils while AWJ Holding gave up 2.5 fils. Mezzan Holding reversed Tuesday’s gains with a 6 fils drop to 900 fils and AFAQ gained 15 fils.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait was flat at 700 fils and Commercial Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 350 fils. Al Mutahed was not traded during the session.

Kuwait International Bank slipped 3 fils to 244 fils and Boubyan Bank stood pat at 413 fils. Warba Bank recouped last session’s losses to close 4 fils higher at 269 fils.

National Investment Co clipped 2 fils and KIPCO closed flat. The company’s profits dipped 37.4 pct to KD 9.08 million during April- June period as compared to Q2 of last year. During the first half , profits slumped by 49.5 percent to KD 14.15 million.

Kuwait Investment Co fell 2.2 fils to 93.8 fils and International Financial Advisors trimmed 1.9 fils. Coast Investment Co slipped 1.1 fils and Securities House Co gave up 0.5 fil.

KMEFIC and Sokouk Holding were unchanged at 28.9 fils and 46.5 fils respectively whereas KFIC eased 0.1 fil. Unicap added 1.5 fils and Al Salam closed 2.8 fils in red. Noor Financial Investment Co eased 0.7 fil to 51.3 fils.

Bayan Investment Co inched 0.1 fil lower 50 fils and NIH clipped 2 fils. Alaman edged 1.6 fils up and Aayan Investment trimmed 1.1 fils to end at 44.8 fils. Kuwait Insurance Co dialed up 2 fils and Wethaq Takaful slipped 3 fils.

Kuwait Real Estate Co and United Real Estate Co stalled at 60.2 fils and 87.9 fils respectively whereas National Real Estate Co dropped 3 fils to 123 fils. Salhiya Real Estate Co dialed down 1 fil and Mazaya Holding paused at 115 fils.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has gained 17 pts in last four sessions. The main index had rallied 91 points during whole of July and is trading 18.72 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Imtiaz Investment Group’s second quarter profits soared by a whopping 1,041 pct to KD 19.97 million from same period in 2016. During the first six months, profits surged 626.3% to KD 32.32 million.

National International Holding Co recorded a 66.2 percent dip in the second quarter profit to KD 828,500 from same period last year. In the first half of 2017, the profits tumbled 56 percent to KD 1.2 million.

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.

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.

Educational Holding Group has posted a 13 pct drop in profits in the quarter ended May 31, 2017. The profits totaled KD 1.14 million as against KD 1.31 million in the same period last year

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

 

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