Kuwait bourse ticks up; volume rebounds – Americana gains 40 fils; KIPCO flat

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KUWAIT CITY, March 23: Kuwait stocks inched up Wednesday after trending slightly lower in last three sessions. The price index, after a tame start, nudged 1.92 pts higher to 5,253.72 points even as shares closed mixed.

The KSX 15 gauge climbed 6.38 points to 841.53 pts taking the month’s gains to 14 points while weighted index was up by 1.74 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile rebounded from the month’s lowest level in the last session. 132.39 million shares changed hands – a 29.12 pct jump from Tuesday.

The sectors closed mostly in the green turf. Technology outshone the rest with 1.87 pct gain whereas oil and gas shed 1.22 pct, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services notched the highest market share of 30.4 pct while real estate stood next with 27.3 percent. Industrial sector was a distant third with over 12 pct contribution.

Among the notable movers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait rallied 10 fils on back of over 2 million shares to close at KD 0.700 and Gulf Bank added 2 fils. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) climbed 40 fils taking the month’s gains to 660 fils.

Zain rose 5 fils to KD 0.380 after trading over 6 million shares and Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) stood pat at KD 1.200 off early lows with thin trading. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) climbed 10 fils to KD 1.000 and logistics major Agility rallied 15 fils on back of 2.3 million shares.

KIPCO was unchanged at KD 0.530 and National Investments Company  clipped 1 fils to settle at 85 fils. The company has incurred a net loss of KD 5.57 million and losses per share of 7 fils in the year 2015 as against net profit of KD 6.67 mln and earnings per share 8 fils in the same period last year.

The market opened on tame note and rose briefly in early trade. It hit the day’s high of 5,260.86 points and slipped into red. It moved sideways thereafter and plumbed the day’s lowest level 5,234.31 points before clawing back the losses to close in the green zone.

Top gainer of the day, Amwal International Investment Co jumped 7.3 pct to 22 fils and Injazzat Holding Co climbed 6.67 pct to stand next. Al Dar National Real Estate Co tumbled 10.8 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and the counter also topped the volume with 19.7 million shares.

Despite the day’s uptick, the losers slightly outled the winners. 42 stocks advanced whereas 46 closed lower. Of the 125 counters active on Wednesday, 37 closed flat. 3,061 deals worth KD 12.3 million were transacted – a 8.9 pct drop in value from the day before.

National Industries Group took in 2 fils partly reversing the fall in the last session while Gulf Bank and ACICO were unchanged at KD 0.320 and KD 0.290 respectively. Boubyan Petrochemical Co shed 10 fils whereas Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co added 2 fils.

Jazeera Airways pulled up from slight early losses to close flat at KD 0.880 and ALAFCO added 2 fils to end at 210 fils. Independent Petroleum Group sank 25 fils to KD 0.275 whereas Kuwait National Cinema Co jumped 30 fils.

Automated Systems Co rose 5 fils and Humansoft Holding Co was up 10 fils at KD 0.760. The company has clocked a net profit of KD 17.51 million and earnings per share of 144 fils in 2015 soaring from net profit of KD 8.26 million and earnings per share of 68 fils in the previous year. Board of Directors has recommended 25 percent cash dividends.

IFA Hotels and Resorts stood pat at 180 fils and United Projects Group followed suit. The company has posted a net profit of KD 6.75 million and earnings per share of 86 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2015 up from net profit of KD 5.65 million and earnings per share of 72.08 fils in the year before. The BOD has proposed 86 pct cash dividends.

PAPCO rose 4 fils to 102 fils while KGL Logistics and Al Nawadi Holding Co took in 2 fils each to settle at 65 fils and 77 fils respectively. Zima Holding inched down after trading 7.5 million shares and Mezzan Holding was unchanged at KD 1.100 .

City Group slipped 5 fils to KD 0.435 and Salbookh Trading Co gave up 2 fils to settle at 69 fils. Osos Holding Group Co nudged 2 fils into green and Equipment Holding Co paused at 52 fils.

In the banking sector, Al Ahli Bank slipped 5 fils to KD 0.330 and Ahli United Bank gave up slight early gains to close flat at KD 0.425. Kuwait International Bank climbed 4 fils and Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the session.  Burgan Bank and Kuwait Finance House were flat at KD 0.340 and KD 0.485 respectively and Boubyan Bank gave up 5 fils to close at KD 0.410. Warba Bank took in 2 fils to settle at 170 fils.

Bayan Investment Co was flat at 33 fils with a volume of 3.8 million while KFIC inched 1 fils higher. Osoul Investment Co inched 0.5 fils higher and Securities House Co followed suit. Mabanee Co gained 10 fils and Kuwait Insurance Company rallied 15 fils.

The market has been flattish so far during the week and has slipped 9 points in last four sessions. It has added 47 pts so far during the month and is trading 6.45 pct lower year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Tamdeen Investment Co has posted a net profit of KD 11.52 million and earnings per share of 39.07 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2015, up from net profit of KD 9.05 million and earnings per share of 30.41 fils in the year before.

KAMCO Investment Company has logged a net profit KD 523,688 and earnings per share of 2.20 fils in the year 2015 as against net profit of KD 1.96 million and earnings per share of 8.23 fils during the year before. Abyaar Real Estate Development Co has recorded a net losses of KD 21,700 and loss per share of 0.02 fils in 2015 after posting net profit of KD 755,088 and earnings per share of 0.69 fils in the year before.

Credit Rating and Collection Co has incurred a net loss of KD 454,911 and losses per share of 2.76 fils in 2015 as against net loss of KD 2.26 million and losses per share of 13.73 fils in the year before.

Injazzat Real Estate Development Company has clocked a net profit of KD 3.07 million and earnings per share of 9.2 fils in 2015, rising sharply from net profit of KD 1.51 mln and earnings per share of 4.5 fils in the same period last year . The BOD has recommended 5 pct cash dividends.

By John Mathews – Arab Times Staff

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