Kuwait bourse plunges on heavy profit-taking – KFH falls 10 fils; Zain unchanged

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KUWAIT CITY, Feb 7: Kuwait stocks sank on Tuesday after posting modest gains in the day before. The main index dived 118.68 pts to 6583.05 points on renewed bout of profit taking following recent bull run. The small and mid-caps counters weighed whereas the heavyweights remained largely subdued.

The KSX 15 benchmark fell 4.35 pts to 976.49 points taking the month’s losses to 9 points while weighted index edged 2.27 pts lower. The volume turnover meanwhile dipped below the 500 million mark again. 481.56 million shares changed hands – a 13.8 percent fall from Monday.

The sectors all ended lower barring basic materials which closed flat. Real estate, the worst performer, slid 3.48 percent while financial services, the second biggest was down 3 percent . In terms of volume, real estate accounted for the highest market share of 41 percent whereas financial services stood next with 34 percent contribution.

Among notable losers, Kuwait Finance House fell 10 fils to 610 fils erasing Monday’s gains while Mabanee Co was down 20 fils at 850 fils . Mazaya Real Estate Co dropped 132 fils after trading over 15 million shares.

Zain was unchanged at 510 fils off early lows wih a volume of 8.8 million and Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 1.240. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) stood pat at 870 fils with thin trading and Agility followed suit to end at 730 fils.

National Bank of Kuwait vacillated in narrow range before closing flat at 720 fils and Boubyan Bank followed suit. The bank’s fourth quarter profit rose 13.5 percent year-on-year to KD 11.44 mln and for the full year, profit was up 16.6 percent to KD 41.07 mln.

The market opened firm but fell sharply in early trade amid broad selling pressure. The main index plunged to day’s lowest level of 6552.87 pts ahead of mid-session and bounced back slightly. It moved sideways for most part of second half and closed with steep losses.

Top gainer of the day, First Takaful Insurance rallied 7.6 percent to 70 fils while UPAC climbed 6.49 percent to stand next. KSHC skidded 9 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Abyaar topped the volume with over 50 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s tumble, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the losers. 23 stocks advanced whereas 94 closed lower. Of the 144 counters active on Tuesday, 27 closed flat. 9010 deals worth KD 43.14 milion were transacted – a 10.1 percent drop from the last session.

National Industries Group slipped 8 fils to 146 fils after trading 3.6 million shares and Gulf Cable was down 10 fils at 560 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries Shipbuilding Co paused at 238 fils whereas Contracting and Marine Services Co gave up 5 fils.

Jazeera Airways was unchanged at 670 fils after seesawing earlier in the session and ALAFCO too did not budge from its earlier close of 250 fils. Metal and Recylcing Co fell 5 fils to 76 fils with razor thin volume Boubyan Petrochemical Co was down 10 fils at 580 fils.

Gained

Kuwait Food C (Americana) stood the ground at KD 2.620 off early lows and Humansoft Holding gained 20 fils. Qurain Petrochemical Co rose 10 fils to 300 fils and Yiaco retreated 10 fils. IPG rose 10 fils to 380 fils.

Kuwait Cement Co closed 10 fils lower at 480 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement Co shed 20 fils. Mezzan Holding dropped 10 fils and Al Rai Media Group took in 2 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co slipped 10 fils to 340 fils and ACICO added 5 fils before settling at 300 fils. NICBM was unchanged at 218 fils and Equipment Holding Co gave up 5 fils.

Independent Petroleum Group and Automated Systems Co gained 10 fils each whereas Zimah Holding fell 5 fils to 63 fils. Kuwait and Gulf LinkTransport Co eased 4 fils to 60 fils and KGL Logistics Co clipped 3 fils.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait seesawed narrowly before closing flat at 720 fils and Gulf Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 250 fils with a volume of over 1 million shares. Commercial Bank bucked the trend with 30 fils jump to 510 fils.

Al Ahli Bank rose 5 fils to 320 fils while Ahli United Bank was down 5 fils at 440 fils. Burgan Bank stood pat at 325 fils and Warba Bank climbed 4 fils to 242 fils.

KIPCO was unchanged at 540 fils and National Investment Co followed suit. International Financial Advisors and KMEFIC clipped 2.5 fils each while Securities House Co gave up 5 fils. Coast Investment Co eased 2 fils to 51 fils.

Osoul Investment Co fell 5 fils to 70 fils whereas KAMCO paused at 85 fils. Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) took in 2 fils while Sokouk Holding and Noor Financial Investment Co slipped 3 fils each. while Bayan Investment Co and Aayan gave up 2.5 fils each.

Kuwait Insurance Co slumped 25 fils to 275 fils and Gulf Insurance Co shed 10 fils. Kuwait Real Estate Co dipped 4 fils to 73 fils whereas United Real Estate Co added 4 fils. Al Mal and Unicap fell 2 fils each

The market has been trending lower far during the week and has skidded 264 points in last three sessions. It has tanked 249 points from start of the month but has gained 14.53 percent year-to-date. KSE, with 208 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Boubyan Bank’s fourth quarter profit rose 13.5 percent year-on-year to KD 11.44 million from KD 10.08 million in Q4- of 2015. For the full year, profit was up 16.6 percent to KD 41.07 mln from KD 35.24 million in 2015.

Al Mowasat Health Care has posted KD 1.8 million profits during the fourth quarter of 2016 and for the fiscal year of 2016, earnings rose 35.3 percent to KD 4.52 million from the year before. The board of directors has recommended a dividend payout of 20% or 20 fils per share.

Injazzat Real Estate Development has posted a net profit of KD 550,000 in the last quarter of 2016 and during the fiscal year of 2016, the bank earned KD 3.2 million. The board of Injazzat has recommended a cash dividend of 5% or 5 fils per share for FY 2016, with a total value of KD 2.03 million.

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.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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