Kuwait index continues to slide; volume swells – Americana sinks 120 fils; Ooredoo gains

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KUWAIT CITY, Nov 7: Kuwait stocks continued to slide on Tuesday extending the week’s slump. The bourse tumbled 176.06 pts to 6,143.01 points tracking region’s downswing triggered by Saudi crackdown. The blue chips led by banks continued to bleed as panic gripped the trading floor.

The KSX 15 slid 43.14 pts to 875.6 points as it erased year’s gains while weighted index shed 15.28 points. The volume turnover meanwhile swelled to a three-week high. 175.31 million shares changed hands — a 31 pct surge from the day before.

All sectors barring one closed in red. Parallel market, the only gainer of the day, climbed 0.82 pct whereas financial services dived 4.6 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services mustered the highest market share of 35 pct and banks trailed with 25.3 percent contribution.

Among notable losers, National Bank of Kuwait dipped 20 fils to 700 fils extending Monday’s downswing and Kuwait Finance House too continued to bleed with 37 fils slide with a volume of 14.9 million. KIPCO dived 30 fils to 310 fils and Kuwait Food Co (Americana) sank 120 fils.

Zain slid 29 fils to 434 fils after trading 12.3 million shares whereas Ooredoo continued to buck the trend with a 13 fils rise to KD 1.175. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) shed 14 fils and Agility dropped 33 fils to 720 fils.

Burgan Bank was down 18 fils at 310 fils and Boubyan Bank erased 16 fils. The bank’s profits rose 13.8 pct to KD 12.2 million in the July-September period from the year-ago period. In the first nine months of 2017, it recorded a 15 pct rise in earnings to KD 34.07 million.

The market opened firm and ticked briefly higher in early trade. The price index scaled the day’s highest level of 6,353 points and headed south thereafter as selling resumed across the board. It bottomed at 6,353 pts in the second half before clawing back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Tahssilat spiked 19 pct to 25 fils and GFC rallied 17.9 pct to stand next. Gulf Insurance Co sank 20 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz topped the volume with over 23 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s plunge, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the losers. 21 stocks advanced whereas 101 closed lower. Of the 130 counters active on Tuesday, 8 closed flat. 5,848 deals worth KD 38.5 million were transacted — a 35.4 pct surge in value from the day before

Kuwait Portland Cement dipped 50 fils to 900 fils and Kuwait Cement Co rose 7 fils 457 fils. Gulf Cable shed 36 fils and Heavy Engineering Industries Shipbuilding Co added 8 fils. Metal and Recycling Co was down 16.8 fils at 71 fils.

Humansoft Holding extended it losses with 100 fils slump to KD 3.600 whereas NAPESCO stood pat at 800 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical inched 1 fil and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co clipped 2 fils. Equipment Holding Co eased 1.2 fils to 33.8 fils.

Trimmed

Jazeera Airways trimmed 1 fil while ALAFCO and Nafais gave up 10 fils each. Independent Petroleum Group dipped 25 fils and KCPC pulled 16 fils into red. KPPC gave up 3.3 fils to close at 50.2 fils and ACICO Industries shed 19 fils,

Combined Group Contracting Co slipped 15 fils to 480 fils and UPAC closed 5 fils in red. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co added 4.8 fils and KGL Logistics trimmed 1.3 fils. UPAC gave up 5 fils to settle at 605 fils.

Mezzan Holding dropped 16 fils and Alrai Media Group stood pat at 789 fils. The company has incurred loss of KD 143,000 in the third quarter of 2017.

In the banking sector. Gulf Bank fell 4 fils to 236 fils while Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank paused at 400 fils and 312 fils respectively. Al Mutahed was down 18 fils at 361 fils. Kuwait International Bank shed 16 fils and Warba Bank gave up 11 fils to end at 210 fils.

Kuwait Investment Co slipped 9 fils to 107 fils and International Financial Advisors erased 3.2 fils. National Investment Co fell 4 fils to 99 fils while Securities House and Arzan Investment clipped 2 fils each. Coast Investment Co gave up 6.2 fils.

Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) fell 2 fils to 100 fils and Amwal Investment Co followed suit to end at 33 fils. Noor Financial Investment Co gave up 3.8 fils whereas Sokouk Investment added 1.5 fils.

Bayan Investment trimmed 2.5 fils and KAMCO dialed up 2.5 fils. The company has recorded a profit of KD 621,320 in the period between June and September, a 273.3 pct surge from the third quarter of 2016. KFIC eased 0.9 fil to 45.9 fils.

Kuwait Insurance Co climbed 15 fils and Aheia Insurance Co closed 5 fils in red. First Takaful Insurance gained 4 fils and Wethaq Takaful gave up 3 fils.

Mabanee Co slid 50 fils to 700 and National Real Estate Co shed 20 fils. Kuwait Real Estate Co slipped 3.1 fils and Mazaya Holding was down 4 fils at 102 fils. Salhiya Real Estate Co closed 5 fils in red.

The bourse has been retreating sharply so far during the week and has tanked 405 points in last three sessions. It has plunged 370 points from start of the month and is trading over 6.8 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Zain’s third quarter earnings dropped 7 percent to nearly KD 40 million, compared to KD 43 million for the same period last year. Revenues amounted to KD 259 million and EBITDA stood at KD 104 million. In the 9M period, profits slipped by 1.6 pct to KD 122 million.

Aayan Real Estate’s third quarter profits slid 79.9 percent to KD 124,510 compared to KD 620,740 in same period last year. In the first nine months of 2017, was up 0.2 pct to KD 1.019 million.

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.

By John Mathews – Arab Times Staff

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