Kuwait bourse ‘little’ changed; volume dips – Ooredoo dives 40 fils; Humansoft Holding jumps

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KUWAIT CITY, Nov 3 : Kuwait stocks were little changed on Thursday as the bourse wound up the week on a tame note. The price index inched 1.69 pts higher in volatile trade to 5,409.36 pts even as sentiment remained damp amid weakening oil prices.

The KSX 15 benchmark slipped 3.1 pts to 830.97 points taking the year-to-date losses to 54 pts while weighted index edged 0.9 pt into red. The volume turnover meanwhile slipped below the 100 million mark for the second time during the week. 96.28 million shares changed hands — a 14.8 pct drop from the day before.

The sectors closed mixed. Banks outshone the rest with 0.70 pct gain whereas telecommunications dipped 1.9 percent, the weakest performer of the day. In terms of volume, real estate mustered the highest market share of 31.53 pct while financial services stood next with 31.17 percent contribution.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait dropped 10 fils to 590 fils erasing Wednesday’s gains and Commercial Bank of Kuwait was down by same measure to close at 390 fils. Investment conglomerate KIPCO gave up 5 fils to settle at 495 fils.

Zain was unchanged at KD 0.390 and Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) slid 40 fils to KD 1.060 with razor thin trading. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) dipped 30 fils to 850 fils and Agility stood pat at KD 0.480 after trading over 1 million shares.

Kuwait Finance House was flat at 485 fils off early lows with a volume of 1.2 million and Boubyan Bank was up 5 fils at 390 fils. The bank has recorded a net profit of KD 29.62 million and earnings per share of 13.68 fils in the nine-month period ending Sept 30, 2016.

The market opened firm and ticked up in early trade. The price index scaled the day’s highest level of 5,412.5 pts but failed to hold on to the gains. It fell sharply to bottom at 5,395.73 pts amid selling in select counters and clawed back thereafter to close barely in the green zone.

Top gainer of the day, REMAL rallied 10 pct to 55 fils and Al Aqaria climbed 9.5 percent to stand close behind. KMEFIC slid 8.8 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Ithmaar Bank topped the volume with 11.8 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s uptick, the winners slightly outnumbered the losers. 45 stocks advanced while 42 closed lower. Of the 123 counters active on during the day, 36 closed flat. 2,563 deals worth KD 8.19 million were transacted — a 36.7 pct plunge in value from the day before.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of the Kharafi Group, fell 2 fils to 114 fils after trading over 1 million shares whereas Gulf Cable stood pat at 380 fils with thin volume. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co was down 6 fils at 152 fils.

Kuwait Food Co (Americana) was unchanged at KD 2.620 and Humansoft Holding Co gained 20 fils. Kuwait Portland Cement Co paused at KD 0.920 and Independent Petroleum Group slipped 10 fils to 360 fils. Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co rose 5 fils to 305 fils and KCPC was up 8 fils.

Eased

ALAFCO eased 2 fils to 214 fils and Jazeera Airways Co gained 10 fils. The airline has posted a net profit of KD 12.01 million and earnings per share of 60.06 fils in the first nine months of 2016 a s against net profit of KD 14.47 million and earnings per share of year 34.45 fils in the year before period.

Kuwait Foundry Co took in 2 fils to settle at 170 fils and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co followed suit. Mezzan Holding Co climbed 20 fils to KD 1.040 whereas Zimah Holding clipped 1 fil. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co took in 0.5 fil and KGL Logistics Co ended 1 fil in red.

Equipment Holding Co fell 1.5 fils to 44 fils and Burgan Well Drilling Co gave up 1 fil to close at 85 fils. Al Rai Media Group dialed up 2 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts stood pat at 168 fils. Jeeran Holding Co slipped 4 fils to 58 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was unchanged at 232 fils and Burgan Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 320 fils. Ahli United Bank added 5 fils before ending at 395 fils and Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session.

Burgan Bank paused at 320 fils and Kuwait International Bank clipped 2 fils to close at 190 fils. Warba Bank rose 4 fils on back of over 7 million shares ro wind up at 216 fils.

National Investment Co was flat at 108 fils off early lows with a volume of 1.4 million and International Financial Advisors followed suit. Securities House Co and Coast Finance and Investment Co stalled at 39.5 fils and 40 fils respectively.

KAMCO and National Investment House fell 2 fils each whereas Bayan Investment Co stagnated at 30.5 fils. Sokouk Holding inched 0.5 fil higher and Al Salam followed suit to close at 43 fils. Noor Finance and Investment Co and Al Madina Finance Co eased 1 fil each.

Kuwait Insurance Co slipped 4 fils to 226 fils and Ahleia Insurance Co skidded 10 fils. Warba Insurance Co dialed up 2 fils to close at 110 fils and Kuwait Reinsurance Co followed suit.

Kuwait Real Estate Co added 1.5 fils whereas Mabanee Co and Tamdeen Real Estate Co paused at 810 fils and 500 fils respectively. National Real Estatate Co clipped 1 fil and Mazaya Holding closed flat.

The market has been mixed during the week. The main index closed higher in 3 of the 5 session and added 12 points week-on-week. The price index had gained 3 points during the whole of October but is down 3.66 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 198 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Aqar Real Estate Investments Co has registered a net profit of KD 923,223 and earnings per share of 4.34 fils in the January-September period down from net profit of KD 1.72 million and EPS of 7.63 fils in the 9M of 2015.

Jeeran Holding Co has logged a net profit of KD 431,750 and earnings per share of 3.17 fils in the first nine-month of 2016 up sharply from net profit of KD 177,518 and earnings per share of 1.30 fils in the 9M of 2015.

Kuwait Building Materials Mfg has registered a net profit of KD 159,204 and earnings per share of 5.3 fils in the January-September period as against net profit of KD 363,059 and earnings per share of 12 fils in the same period last year.

Hilal Cement Company has logged a net loss of KD 3,709 and loss per share of 0.04 fil in the January-September period of 2016 narrowing from a net loss of KD 117,151 and LPS of 1.39 fils in same period in 2015.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff 

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