Kuwait slumps on Saudi jitters; volume increases – NBK dips 34 fils; Ooredoo gains

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KUWAIT CITY, Nov 6: Kuwait stocks sank on Monday extending last session’s losses. The price index tumbled 149.09 points amid broad sell-off to 6,319.07 pts as Saudi crackdown jitters roiled market sentiment. Heavyweights led by banks paced the day’s decline even as select counters bucked the trend to log hefty gains.

The KSX 15 gauge slid 35.57 pts to 918.74 pts taking the month’s losses to 59 points while weighted index shed 11.5 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile swelled further to scale month’s high. 133.63 million shares changed hands — a 29.48 pct rise from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in red. Consumer services outshone the rest with 1.90 pct gain whereas consumer good slid 4.75 percent, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, financial services accounted for the highest market share of 34.4 percent and banks trailed with over 25 pct contribution.

Among the prominent fallers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait dived 34 fils to 720 fils after trading over 7 million shares and Kuwait Finance House slid 23 fils with brisk trading. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) slumped 230 fils to KD 1.520.

Zain fell 8 fils to 463 fils with a volume of over 7 million and Ooredoo bucked the downtrend with a 53 fils jump to KD 1.162. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) climbed 14 fils to 774 fils and Agility dipped 22 fils to 753 fils.

Gulf Bank slipped 9 fils to 240 fils and Kuwait International Bank shed 17 fils. The bank posted a net profit of KD 13.5 million for the third quarter of 2017 while earnings per share reached 14.42 fils.

The market opened weak and headed south in early trade. The main index continued to slide amid broad selling pressure and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 6313 points in the final minutes. It however slightly pared back its losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Kuwait National Cinema Co vaulted 13.6 pct to KD 1.500 and Aqar Real Estate climbed 6.77 pct to stand next. KMEFIC slid 20 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Kuwait Finance House topped the volume with over 13 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s upswing, losers vastly outnumbered the winners. 9 stocks advanced whereas 87 closed lower. Of the 119 counters active on Monday, 12 closed flat. 4519 deals worth KD 28.44 million were transacted — a 63 pct surge in value from the day before.

Kuwait Cement Co was flat at 450 fils and Gulf Cable dropped 20 fils to 451 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co fell 7 fils to 203 fils while Metal and Recycling Co eased 1.9 fils.

Jazeera Airways rose 5 fils to 640 fils partly paring Sunday’s pullback whereas ALAFCO was down 15 fils at 365 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co dropped 10 fils to 628 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 3 fils.

Slipped

Equipment Holding Co slipped 5.7 fils to 35 fils and Safat Energy Co fell 2.5 fils. Educational Holding Group added 3 fils and KPPC dialed down 2.4 fils.

Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co dipped 5.8 fils and KGL Logistics Co eased 0.8 fil. Mezzan Holding gave up 7 fils to end at 805 fils and Salbookh Contracting and Trading Co gave up 7.3 fils.

Napesco shed 25 fils and Independent Petroleum Group was down 5 fils at 385 fils. The company has clocked a 1 pct rise in third quarter profits to KD 1.445 million from the same period last year.

Humansoft Holding sank 151 fils exending last session’s losses and EK Holding shed 11 fils to 215 fils. Burgan Well Drilling Co inched 1 fil into red and Combined Group Contracting Co paused at 485 fils.

Burgan Bank fell 6 fils to 328 fils whereas Al Ahli Bank stood pat 312 fils. Al Mutahed slipped 11 fils to 379 fils and Warba Bank gave up 9 fils before settling at 221 fils.

Boubyan Bank dropped 12 fils and Commercial Bank was flat at 400 fils. The bank has posted a net profit of KD 12.45 million in third quarter, down 22 pct from the year-ago period.

KIPCO fell 4 fils to 340 fils whereas National Investment Co and Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) held ground at 103 fils and 102 fils respectively. Kuwait Investment Co was down 7 fils at 116 fils.

KAMCO added 2.5 fils with thin trading and Arzan inched 0.6 fil higher. Coast Investment Co clipped 2 fils and KMEFIC gave up 5 fils to close at 20 fils. Securities House Co and Bayan Investment Co were down 4.5 fils each.

KFIC ticked 0.1 fil into red whereas Osoul Investment and Amwal paused at 46.8 fils and 35 fils respectively. Noor Financial Investment Co fell 3.9 fils and Sokouk Holding closed 3.7 fils in red.

Kuwait Insurance Co dived 15 fils to 270 fils and First Takaful Insurance shed 13.9 fils. Amwal Investment Co was unchanged at 35 fils.

Mabanee Co dipped 20 fils to 750 fils and AREEC was down 14 fils at 177 fils. National Real Estate Co trimmed 1 fil and Mazaya Holding gave up 3 fils.

The bourse was has been bearish so far during the week and has slumped 229 points in last two sessions. It has plunged 194 points from start of the month and is trading over 9 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. Public provisions amounted to KD 225 million, accounting for 38 pct of the total shareholders’ equity.

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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