Kuwait bourse swings into red; volume drops – Humansoft Holding dips 50 fils; Ooredoo gains
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KUWAIT CITY, Nov 19: Kuwait stocks swung into red on Sunday after trading higher in the previous week. The price index, after drifting sideways for most part of the session, dipped 46.92 points to 6262.39 pts as renewed regional tensions weighed on the sentiment.
The KSX 15 benchmark fell 3.31 points to 922.65 pts taking the month’s losses to 45 points while weighted index clipped 2 points. The volume turnover meanwhile receded for second consecutive session. 63 million shares changed hands – down 7 pct from Thursday.
The sectors closed mostly lower. Insurance outshone the rest with 2 pct gain whereas consumer services shed 2 pct, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services accounted for the highest market share of 60.5 pct and banks trailed far behind with 17 pct contribution.
In the individual shares, Al Ahli Bank fell 12 fils to 297 fils and Tamdeen Investment Co skidded 49 fils to 300 fils. Humansoft Holding slid 50 fils erasing last session’s gains while UPAC tumbled 85 fils to 585 fils.
Zain fell 7 fils to 453 fils taking the months losses to 13 fils and Ooredoo climbed 17 fils to KD 1.080. Agility was down 7 fils at 770 fils and Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) followed suit to wind up at 690 fils.
National Bank of Kuwait was flat at 740 fils after trading over 3 million shares and Kuwait Finance House too did not budge from its earlier close of 549 fils. The bank has chalked 7.6 percent increase in profits during the third quarter of 2017 to KD 56.22 million.
The market opened on a tame note and moved sideways in early trade. The price index drifted lower thereafter and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 6,145 points as sentiment turned sour. It however clawed back some of its losses in the final minutes.
Top gainer of the month Nafais climbed 11.9 pct to 649 fils and First
Takaful Insurance Co scaled 11.1 pct to stand close behind. Amwal Investment Co slumped 20 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz Investment Co topped the volume with 15.9 million shares,
Mirroring the day’s downswing, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the losers. 31 stocks advance whereas 62 closed lower. Of the 119 counters active on Sunday, 26 closed flat. 3107 deals worth KD 11.5 million were transacted – a 25 pct jump in value from the day before.
Kuwait Portland Cement Co wiped off last session’s gains with a 49 fils slide to 910 fils and National Industries Group took in 2 fils. The company has logged a profit of KD 2.12 million in the third quarter of 2017. In the first nine months, the profits stood at KD 7.35 million
Jazeera Airways slipped 7 fils to 649 fils and ALAFCO closed flat. The company has registered a 133.3 pct surge in profits to KD 32.82 million for the fiscal year that ended 30 September. The board of directors has recommended cash dividends of 10 fils per share.
Slipped
Kuwait Foundry Co slipped 11 fils to 265 fils while ACICO Industries and Combined Group Contracting Co gave up 2 fils each. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co dropped 6 fils to 202 fils while Metal and Recycling Co stood pat at 80 fils.
Automated Systems Co was unchanged at 150 fils while Educational Holding Group ticked 1 fil into red. Boubyan Petrochemical Co rose 4 fils to 643 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co dialed down 2 fils.
Mezzan Holding fell 2 fils to 753 fils and Equipment Holding Co eased 0.4 fil. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co gave up 2.9 fils and KCPC dipped 14 fils to 145 fils.
In the banking sector, Al Mutahed fell 4 fils to 359 fils while Kuwait International Bank and Burgan Bank held ground at 224 fils and 317 fils respectively.
Commercial Bank was unchanged at 400 fils and Boubyan Bank was down 4 fils at 416 fils. Warba Bank dialed down 2 fils to wind up at 214 fils.
KIPCO and National Investment Co were flat at 299 fils and 100 fils respectively whereas International Financial Advisors inched 0.8 fil lower. Coast Investment Co eased 1 fil and Securities House Co took in 0.8 fil.
KFIC and Ektittab Holding were unchanged at 45.4 fils and 31.3 fils respectively whereas Sokouk Holding dialed up 0.4 fil. Al Deera Holding gave up 1.9 fils and Noor Financial Investment Co added 0.5 fil.
Gulf Insurance Co paused at 670 fils and Warba Insurance Co closed 2.1 fils in green. Gulf Insurance Co stood pat at 670 fils. National Real Estate Co trimmed 1 fil and Mabanee Co added 2 fils. Mazaya Holding ticked 1 fil up.
The bourse was mixed during last week. The price index closed higher in three of the five sessions and gained 50 points week-on-week. It has dived 292 points from start of the month and is trading over 8.95 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Agility has recorded net profits of KD 49.2 million in the first nine months of 2017 while the return on equity increased by 13.7 percent to 39.1 fils per share. In the July-September period, the earnings soared 714 pct to WD 17.8 million, increasing by 714% year-on-year.
Kuwait Finance and Investment has posted a 35 percent year-on-year surge in profits to KD 299,483 for the first nine months of 2017 while earnings per share surged 35 percent to 1.0 fil. Total operating revenue rose 10% percent to KD 4.015 million during the period.
Gulf Bank of Kuwait’s total shareholders’ equity stood at KD 591.2 million by the end of September 2017. The net revenue from interest totaled KD 97.2 mln in January – September period while operating profits stood at KD 89.7 million.
Aqar Real Estate Investments Co’s earnings was down 6.42 pct year-on-year during the third quarter of 2017 to KD 345,140. In the January-September period, profits rose 11.5 percent to KD 1.03 million. The operating revenues rose 14.6 pct to KD 1.48 million in nine-month period.
Credit Rating and Collection Co’s (Tahssilat) losses widened to KD 269,840 in the third quarter of 2017 from KD 61,020 in the same period last year. During the nine-month period, it logged a profit of KD 830,200 against a loss of KD 291,200 in the same period in 2016.
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