Kuwait bourse tumbles on ‘broad’ profit-taking – Al Ahli Bank drops 15 fils; Ooredoo gains

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KUWAIT CITY, Feb 5: Kuwait stocks swung sharply lower on Sunday after losing some steam during last week. The price index tumbled 156.61 pt to 6686.92 points amid broad profit taking led by banks and real estate shares.

The KSX 15 benchmark fell 4.18 points to 966.22 pts trimming the year’s gains to 81 points while weighted index was down 3.53 points. The volume turnover meanwhile ticked up following five-day decline. 488.64 million shares changed hands – 3.8 pct rise from previous session.

All sectors barring one closed in red turf. Healthcare, the only gainer, edged 0.43 pct higher while oil and gas skidded 4 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, real estate garnered the highest market share of 39.8 pct while financial services stood next with 34.8 pct contribution.

Among notable losers, National Bank of Kuwait dropped 10 fils to 700 fils after trading 2.55 million shares while Al Ahli Bank dipped 15 fils to 315 fils. Kuwait National Cinema Co slumped 40 fils with thin volumes and UPAC dived 50 fils to 770 fils.

Zain was unchanged at 500 fils off early highs with a volume of 6.8 million and Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) gained 20 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) rose 10 fils to 890 fils and Agility gave up 10 fils to settle at 720 fils.

Commercial Bank bucked the trend to jump 25 fils while Boubyan Bank added 5 fils. The bank’s fourth quarter profit rose 13.5 pct year-on-year to KD 11.44 million.

The market opened weak and fell sharply in early trade as profit taking weighed on counters across the sectors. The price index held up briefly twice before trading sideways in the final hour and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 6675.41 points. However it pared back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day First Takaful Insurance Co rallied 9 pct to 60 fils while Hilal Cement Co climbed 6.67 percent to stand next. Al Safat Energy slid 8.93 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Mazaya Holding Co topped the volume with over 41 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s slide, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the losers with decliners leading winners by nearly 6 to 1. Of the 49 counters active on Sunday, 19 closed flat. 9342 deals worth KD 50 million were transacted – a 13.3 pct rise in value from the day before.

National Industries Group slipped 8 fils to 150 fils after trading 7.6 million shares while RISCO dipped 15 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co dropped 10 fils while Contracting and Marine Shipbuilding Co inched 1 fils higher.

Jazeera Airways fell 10 fils to 680 fils erasing last session’s gains while ALAFCO gave up 5 fils to settle at 250 fils. Gulf Cable shed 30 fils and Shuaiba Industrial Co was up 5 fils at 325 fils. Metal and Recycling Co slipped 5 fils to 81 fils.

Kuwait Food Co (Americana) was unchanged at KD 2.600 and Kuwait Foundry Co slid 25 fils to 340 fils. ACICO Industries Co and Boubyan Petrochemical Co stood pat at 290 fils and 570 fils respectively whereas Hilal Cement Co gained 10 fils.

Rose

Kuwait Cement Co rose 5 fils to 495 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement shed 20 fils.. NAPESCO dived 30 fils and Al Rai Media Group clipped 2 fils.

Equipment Holding Co and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 5 fils each while Yiaco added 5 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co fell 5 fils to 61 fils and KGL Logistics Co dialed down 2 fils.

Zimah Holding Co closed 5 fils lower at 66 fils and Mezzan Holding dipped 20 fils. NICBM stood pat at 218 fils off slight early lows and Humansoft Holding too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 3.000.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was unchanged at 248 fils and Burgan Bank followed suit. Ahli United Bank slipped 10 fils to 440 fils and Kuwait International Bank gave up 4 fils.

Kuwait Finance House stood pat at 415 fils off early highs after trading over 4 million shares and Warba Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 238 fils.

KIPCO was flat at 540 fils while National Investment Co was down 4 fils at 540 fils 136 fils with a volume of 136 fils. Coast Investment Co and Securities House Co slipped 5 fils each whereas Kuwait Investment Co paused at 99 fils.

KAMCO and Bayan Investment Co retreated 5 fils each while KMEFIC 2 fils before settling at 38 fils. KFIC inched 1 fils higher and Unicap dialed down 2 fils. Noor Financial Investment Co fell 5 fils to 55 fils and Sokouk Holding followed suit.

Tamdeen Investment Co bucked the market trend to gain 15 fils and Al Imtiaz rose 10 fils to 184 fils. Gulf Insurance Co slid 40 fils and Ahleia Insurance Co shed 20 fils.

Mabanee Co dropped 10 fils to 860 fils and National Real Estate Co too was down by same measure with a volume of 18.4 million shares. United Real Estate Co was down 6 fils at 102 fils while Mazaya Holding took in 2 fils.

The market was mixed during the week. The price index closed lower in three of the five sessions has slipped 9 pts week-on-week. It has slid 146 points so far during the month but has rallied 16 pct 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 pct 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 pct 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 pct 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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