Kuwait bourse swings higher in anemic trade – Americana soars 200 fils; Zain slips

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KUWAIT CITY, May 21: Kuwait stocks swung higher on Sunday as it kicked off the week on a firm note. The price index climbed 34.38 points in volatile trade to 6,760.16 pts helped by select shares even as the volume turned markedly anemic ahead of Ramadan.

The KSX 15 benchmark rose 2.3 pts to 921.78 pts while weighted index edged 0.82 pts higher to 404.46 points. The volume turnover meanwhile dipped sharply below the 100 million mark to plumb a multi-month low. 40.8 million shares changed hands — a 73.7 pct drop from Thursday.

The sectors closed mostly in the green. Consumer goods outshone the rest with 2.69 percent gain whereas basic materials shed 0.91 pct, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, real estate clocked the highest market share of 36.5 pct and financial services followed with 34.8 percent contribution.

Among the prominent gainers, Kuwait Finance House rose 3 fils on back of 1.4 million shares to 503 fils while Kuwait Food Co (Americana) soared 200 fils to KD 2.660. Jazeera Airways climbed 20 fils to 485 fils and Humansoft Holding jumped 60 fils to hit a record high of KD 4.000.

Zain fell 3 fils to 437 fils and Ooredoo stood pat at KD 1.200 after pulling lower in the last session. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) inched 1 fils lower to settle at 849 fils.

Sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait slipped 6 fils to 684 fils with a volume of 2.83 million shares and Warba Bank took in 2 fils. The bank has posted a 296.3% jump in its profits to KD 1.3 million for the first quarter of 2017. Net operating profits spiked 229 pct to KD 3.75 million.

The market opened firm and ticked up in early trade. The main index retreated thereafter as sentiment turned sour and dipped to day’s lowest level of 6,696.79 pts halfway into the session. It clawed back and moved sideways briefly before revving up in the final minutes to peak at 6,766.11 pts and closed with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Metal and Recycling Co vaulted 18.18 pct to 104 fils and First Takaful Insurance Co jumped 17.96 pct to stand next. QIC tumbled 19.89 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Abyaar Real Estate Co topped the volume with 3.8 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s upswing, the winners outnumbered the losers. 103 shares advanced whereas 38 closed lower. Of the 103 counters active on Sunday, 38 closed flat. 1,583 deals worth KD 5.68 million were transacted — a 60.5 pct plunge in value from the previous session.

National Industries Group fell 2 fils to 118 fils while Contracting and Marine Services Co paused at 65 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co fell 5 fils to 555 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 7 fils to close at 333 fils.

Automated Systems Co climbed 19 fils to 265 fils extending last session’s gains while Equipment Holding eased 0.6 fils. NICBM dialed up 2 fils before winding up at 208 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co added 9 fils.

Yiaco jumped 22 fils to 260 fils and Acico Industries rose 5 fils. The company’s first quarter profits rose by 0.78 pct to KD 3.88 mln as compared to KD 3.85 million in Q1 of 2016. Net operating profits was up 11.8 percent to KD 9.87 million.

Zimah Holding clipped 1 fils and Al Rai Media Group held ground at 128 fils. The company has posted 66.7% drop in profits in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 449,760. The net operating profit dipped 64.9% to KD 495,540.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co fell 1 fils to 64 fils and KGL Logistics Co gave up 2 fils UPAC powered 39 fils ahead and AWJ Holding Co took in 1.5 fils. National Ranges Co (Mayadeen) inched 0.5 fils into green.

Oula Fuel rose 1.5 fils to 121 fils whereas Soor Fuel closed 2 fils in red at 116 fils. Gulf Finance House clipped 2 fils to wind up at 184 fils.

In the banking sector, Commercial Bank of Kuwait slipped 5 fils to 345 fils while Kuwait International Bank and Burgan Bank were unchanged at 248 fils and 330 fils respectively.

Boubyan Bank eased 1 fils to 404 fils whereas Gulf Bank, Al Ahli Bank and Ahli United Bank were not traded during the session.

National Investment Co fell 2 fils to 106 fils and Kuwait Investment Co partly pared back last session’s losses with a 1 fils uptick. International Financial Advisors dialed down 1.5 fils after trading over 1 million shares.

KAMCO climbed 6 fils to 82 fils and KFIC was up 4 fils at 45 fils. Sokouk Holding was flat at 51 fils and Noor Financial Investment Co rose 3 fils to 53 fils. .

Bayan Investment Co rose 3.8 fils to 63.8 fils and Amwal inched 0.5 fils up to 74.5 fils. Al Mal Investment Co gave up 0.6 fils while Al Aman fell 5 fils to 16.9 fils. Kuwait Insurance Co dipped 8 fils to 247 fils.

United Real Estate Co dialed up 1 fils and Mabanee Co clipped 1 fils before closing a 789 fils. Mazaya Holding was unchanged at 112 fils and Al Imtiaz Investment Co took in 1 fils

The market was largely upbeat during last week. The price index closed higher in three of the five sessions and gained 55 points week-on-week. It has shed 83 points from start of the month and is trading 17.6 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 208 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Ooredoo Kuwait has posted 26.6 pct jump in profits during the first quarter of 2017 to KD 12.93 million from KD 10.21 million in same period last year. It had recorded a growth of 75% in profits to KD 46.67 million during 2016.

Injazzat Real Estate Development has recorded a 71.5% surge in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 2.35 million from KD 1.37 million in Q1 of 2016, The earnings were boosted by the sale of one of the company’s assets at a profit of KD 1.97 million. In 2016 the profit was up 2.9% at KD 3.2 mln.

National Petroleum Services (Napesco) first quarter profit surged 62.7% year-on-year to KD 2.31 million as to compared to KD 1.42 million in same period last year. It company had earned KD 7.71 million in 2016, up 35.6% from 2015.

Aayan Real Estate has recorded a 164.7 percent jump in its profits to KD 536,890 for the first quarter of 2017 from same period in the year before. During 2016, the profit saw a 1.5% uptick to KD 2.75 million in 2016 from the previous year.

Kuwait National Cinema Co has registered a 26.17 pct jump in profits to KD 3.23 million during the first quarter of 2017 from same period in 2016. The net operating profit surged 61.3% to KD 1.3 million.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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