Kuwait bourse records modest rise; volume up – Ooredoo jumps 42 fils; Jazeera drops

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 7: Kuwait stocks swung higher on Monday following pullback last session’s pullback. The bourse climbed 25.43 points in volatile trade to 6,837.42 pts helped by renewed buying in some of the heavyweights even as the investors remained largely cautious.

The KSX 15 benchmark climbed 5.88 pts to 951.08 points and weighted index was up 2.36 pts at 415.44 points. The volume turnover meanwhile saw an uptick after hitting a one-month low in the day before. Over 56 million shares changed hands — a 17.4 pct rise from Sunday.

Among prime movers, National Bank of Kuwait rose 5 fils on back of 2.94 million shares and Burgan Bank followed suit to end at 360 fils. Kuwait Finance House added 3 fils with brisk trading and Salhiya Real Estate climbed 10 fils to 365 fils.

Zain rose 3 fils to 446 fils with a volume of 3.9 million and Ooredoo jumped 42 fils to KD 1.165 extending Sunday’s uptick. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) paused at 800 fils and Agility gained 15 fils to close at 836 fils.

Gulf Bank fell 1 fil to 242 fils and Commercial Bank of Kuwait stood oat at 350 fils. The company has posted a second quarter profit of KD 1.2 million — down 67.9 pct from same period last year. During the January-June period earnings dropped 82.7 percent to KD 1.99 million

The market opened on tame note and edged lower in early trade. The main index rose briefly before flipping its direction and headed south to bottom at 6793.04 points. It clawed back thereafter amid fresh buying and closed with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, NICBM jumped 9 pct to 180 fils and National Cleaning Co climbed 8.5 pct to stand close behind. Gulf Finance House slumped 13 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Salam topped the volume with 10.5 million shares.

National Industries Group inched 1 fil up to 138 fils and Gulf Cable gained 9 fils. Kuwait Cement Co fell 5 fils to 420 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement Co rose 10 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co dialed up 1 fil.

Jazeera Airways was down 10 fils at 55 5 fils and ALAFCO was flat at 355 fils. Combined Group Contracting Co fell 5 fils to 560 fils and Burgan Well Drilling Co inched 1 fil into red. Eyas For Higher and Technical Training paused at 845 fils.

Equipment Holding Co gave up 3.4 fils and Educational Holding Co slipped 3 fils to 350 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co was unchanged at 570 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical climbed 10 fils to 353 fils.

Humansoft Holding dropped 11 fils to KD 4.289 and Napesco held ground at 915 fils. The company’s second quarter profits slid 26.8 pct to KD 1.73 million from same period in year before. During the first half , profits rose 6.9 percent to KD 4.04 million.

Kuwait Foundry Co rose 10 fils to 280 fils and Acico Industries was flat at 264 fils has posted a profits of KD 745,000 for the second quarter of 2017 , a 35.8 pct drop from same period last year. In the first half, the earnings dipped 7.8% to KD 4.62 million.

OSOS took in 1 fil and AWJ Holding added 2 fils to close at 80 fils. Al Rai Media Group dialed up 1 fil and Mezzan Holding was unchanged at 895 fils.

Sector

In the banking sector, Al Ahli Bank was flat at 318 fils whereas Kuwait International Bank and Boubyan Bank dialed up 2 fils each. Warba Bank ticked 1 fil into green.

National Investment Co eased 1 fil to 108 fils and KIPCO ticked 1 fil up to 370 fils. Kuwait Investment Co rose 4.5 fils to 105 fils and International Financial Investment Co inched 0.2 fil higher. Coast Investment Co was up 0.4 fil at 41.9 fils.

KAMCO took in 2 fils and KFIC dialed up 2.8 fils to end at 43 fils.

Securities House Co trimmed 0.8 fil and Al Mal Investment eased 0.2 fil to 16.5 fils. Kuwait Insurance Co jumped 19 fils to 249 fils and Warba Insurance Co gained 4.6 fils

Al Deera Holding gave up 0.8 fil to end at 32.7 fils and Ektittab Holding added 1.2 fils. Al Imtiaz Investment Co took in 2 fils and Amwal Investment Co closed 0.8 fil higher. Bayan Investment Co edged 1.2 fils higher to 50.3 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co fell 0.7 fil to 53 fils and Tamdeen Investment Co climbed 5 fils to 305 fils. Sokouk Holding inched 0.1 fil into red and UNICAP dialed up 1.5 fils. Al Madina For Investment Co closed 1.8 fils higher.

National Real Estate Co rose 3 fils to 123 fils and Kuwait Real Estate Co inched took in 0.3 fil. Mabanee Co gave up 1 fil and Mazaya Holding stood pat at 114 fils. Abyaar ticked 0.2 fil down to 24.8 fils.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has added 12 points in last two sessions. It has shed 14 points from the start of the month and is trading 18.95 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.

Kuwait International Bank has posted a 37.1% year-on-year drop in second quarter profits to KD 3.32 million from same period in 2016. In the January-June period, earnings stood at KD 10.92 million, down 8.9% from first half of 2016.

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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