Kuwait bourse heads south as volume dips – Jazeera Airways drops 10 fils; KNCC soars

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KUWAIT CITY, Feb 10: Kuwait stocks headed south on Wednesday extending the losses to second straight session. The key index dropped 15.93 points to 5,147.87 points amid selling pressure in some of the banks and other blue chips even as oil prices saw a modest rebounds.

The KSX 15 gauge dropped 9.2 pts to 830.8 points trimming the month’s losses to 3 points while weighted index nudged 2.97 points higher. The volume turnover meanwhile dipped below the 100 million mark to month’s lowest level. 90.52 million shares changed hands — a 37.8 pct drop from Tuesday.

The sectors closed mostly in the negative territory. Technology outpaced the rest with 1.54 pct gain whereas telecommunications shed 1.1 pct, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services accounted for the highest market share of 37.8 pct while real estate stood next with over 31 pct. Industrials was a distant third with 10.6 percent contribution.

Among the prime movers, National Bank of Kuwait slipped 10 fils to KD 0.720 extending an identical fall in the previous session while Kuwait Finance House was down 5 fils at KD 0.475 after trading 2.5 million shares. NBK has obtained the approval of Central Bank of Kuwait to increase its authorized capital to KD 600 million distributed on 6 billion shares.

Telecom major Zain dropped 10 fils to KD 0.345 taking the month’s losses to 15 fils whereas Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) held steady at KD 1.080. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) slipped 10 fils to KD 0.890 and Agility too was down by same measure to end at KD 0.425.

Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) continued to rally with a 60 fils gain while Jazeera Airways Co closed 10 fils in red. The company has posted a net profit of KD 15.38 million and earnings per share of 37.82 fils in the full year of 2015 rebounding from a net loss of KD 2.88 million and loss per share of 6.87 fils in the year before. Board of Directors recommended 15% cash dividends.

The market opened flat and headed south in early trade. The price index continued to drift lower amid weak sentiment and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,121.81 pts past the mid-session. It however pared back some of the losses in the final minutes before closing with moderate losses.

Top gainer of the day, Gulf Finance Co jumped 8.77 pct to 31 fils and Al Themar International Holding Co climbed 6.67 pct to stand next. Al Aqaria tumbled 9.76 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and KBT topped the volume with 9.6 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s downswing, the losers vastly outnumbered the winners. 28 stocks advanced whereas 60 closed lower, Of the 1,123 counters active on Wednesday, 35 closed flat. 2,745 deals worth KD 8.83 million were transacted — a 17.6 pct drop in value from the day before.

National Industries Group eased 2 fils to KD 0.112 and Kuwait Foundry Co followed suit. Gulf Cable slipped 5 fils to KD 0.350 and Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co was down by same measure to end at KD 0.470. Equipment Holding Co stood pat at 53 fils.

Soared

Kuwait National Cinema Co soared 60 fils to KD 1.040 whereas Kuwait Hotels Company pulled 10 fils lower. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co inched 1 fils down and KGL Logistics Co was unchanged at 54 fils. Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co clipped 2 fils to close at 164 fils

ALAFCO fell 2 fils and Mezzan Holding shed 20 filsto settle at KD 1.100. Egypt Kuwait Holding Co gave up 10 fils to settle at KD 0.136. Yiaco Medicals was down 10 fils at KD 0.128.

IFA Hotels and Resorts Co climbed 6 fils to KD 0.192 whereas Humansoft Holding dropped 20 fils to KD 0.860. Nafais Holding Co slipped 10 fils whereas Zima Holding Co inched 1 fils up to 98 fils.

In the banking sector Gulf Bank was flat at KD 0.206 and Ahli United Bank followed suit to close at KD 0.450. Kuwait International Bank fell 2 fils to KD 0.192 whereas Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the session.

Burgan Bank dropped 10 fils to KD 0.340 and Boubyan Bank slipped 5 fils. Warba Bank closed 4 fils in red. The bank has posted a net profit of KD 1 million and earnings per share of 1 fils during the whole year of 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 115,000 and earnings per share of 0.12 fils in the previous year.

National Investment Co eased 2 fils to 79 fils while International Financial Advisers and Commercial Facilities Co paused at 25 fils and 152 fils respectively. Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) added 4 fils to end at 84 fils.

Bayan Investment Co and Al Deera Holding took in 1 fils each while Al Mal Investment closed 2 fils down at 31 fils after trading over 4 million shares. Mabanee Co slid 20 fils to KD 0.910 and National Real Estate Co nudged 2 fils up. The market has been mixed so far during the week and has dropped 49 points in last four sessions. It had slid 140 points from start of the month and is down 8.23 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Hilal Cement Company has recorded a net profit of KD 308,586 and earnings per share of 4 fils in 2015 bouncing from net loss of KD 374,037 and loss per share of 5 fils in the year before. The BOD has recommended 10 percent bonus shares. Aayan Real Estate Co has logged a net profit of KD 2.70 million and earnings per share of 6.5 fils in the financial year ended on Dec 31, 2015 a against net profit of KD 3.07 million and earnings per share of 7.4 fils in 2104. The BOD has recommended 5 pct cash dividends.

Abyaar Real Estate Development C0 has posted a net profit of KD 9,31 million and earnings per share of 15.04 fils for the year ending Dec 31, 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 8.08 million and earnings per share of 13.05 fils in 2014. The BOD has recommended 7% cash dividends.

Aqar Real Estate Investments Co has registered a net profit of KD 2.49 million and earnings per share of 11.07 fils during 2015 as against net profit of KD 2.24 million and earnings per share of 9.81 fils in the year before. Board of Directors recommended 6% cash dividends.

Al-Enmaa Real Estate Co has posted a net profit of KD 4.38 million and earnings per share of 9.73 fils for the year ending Dec 31, 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 3.36 million earnings per share of 7.47 fils in the year before.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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