Kuwait stock index pulls higher; volume rebounds – Agility rallies 38 fils; Humansoft Holding dives

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KUWAIT CITY, Nov 15: Kuwait stocks pulled higher on Wednesday tracking the firmness in regional market and oil prices. The bourse rallied 35.5 pts in volatile trade to 6,285.56 points led by renewed buying in banks and other blue chips even as profit booking weighed on some of the mid-caps.

The KSX 15 benchmark rose 5.7 pts to 824.89 points and weighted index dialed up 2.38 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile surged past the 100 million mark from Tuesday’s three-week low. 103.48 million shares changed hands — a 72 pct jump from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in green turf. Oil and gas outperformed the rest with 2.67 pct gain whereas consumer goods shed 1 pct, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, financial services mustered the highest market share of 40.17 pct while banks trailed with 24.9 pct contribution.

In the individual performers, National Bank of Kuwait rallied 4 fils on back of 4.7 million shares and Boubyan Bank climbed 11 fils to 425 fils. Independent Petroleum Group vaulted 40 fils to 405 fils and Gulf Insurance Co soared 70 fils.

Zain eased 1 fil to 457 fils after trading 4.4 million shares and Ooredoo fell 5 fils to KD 1.084 extending last sessions losses. Kuwait Telecommunications Co ( VIVA) dialed down 2 fils and Agility rallied 38 fils on back of 2.7 million shares.

Kuwait Finance House took in 2 fils with brisk trading and Kuwait International Bank inched 1 fil up. The bank has registered a net profit of KD 13.5 million for the third quarter of 2017.

The market opened firm and rose briefly in early trade. The price index drifted sideways before heading south as selling weighed on select counters. It bottomed at 6,216 pts half way into the session and rebounded thereafter to close with moderate gains.

Top gainer of the day Aqar spiked 25 pct to 75 fils and Ras Al Khaimah White Cement Co climbed 17 percent to stand next. Muntazahat dipped 10 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz topped the volume with over 13 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s upswing , the market spread was skewed towards the winners. 64 stocks advanced whereas 40 closed lower. Of the 118 counters active on Wednesday, 14 closed flat. 4,600 deals worth over 23 million were transacted — a 106 pct surge in value from the day before.

National Industries Group took in 1 fil on back of 6.4 million shares while Kuwait Cement Co and Educational Holding Co stood pat at 456 fils and 308 fils respectively. Gulf Cable dived 26 fils to 423 fils and Heavy Industries Engineering and Shipbuilding C edged 1 fil up.

Jazeera Airways gained 6 fils to wind up at 654 fils and ALAFCO was unchanged at 368 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co rose 6 fils to 638 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 2 fils. Equipment Holding Co was down 2.1 fils at 34.1 fils.

Dived

Humansoft Holding dived 37 fils to KD 3.763 extending last session’s losses while NAPESCO was up 7 fils at 808 fils. KPPC dialed up 0.7 fil and Combined Group Contracting Co gained 20 fils to end at 475 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co slipped 8 fils to 257 fils and NICBM jumped 9 fils. Kuwait Cable Vision Co paused at 22.8 fils while Metal and Recycling Co closed 4 fils in red.

Mezzan Holding Co slid 30 fils to 750 fils and Alrai Media Group trimmed 1 fil. The company has incurred loss of KD 143,000 in the third quarter of 2017. Mashaer Holding dropped 6.7 fils to 63.2 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank fell 3 fils to 243 fils while Al Ahli Bank was down 10 fils at 302 fils. Commercial Bank held ground at 400 fils off early lows.

Burgan Bank rose 4 fils to 312 fils and Al Murtahed trimmed 1 fil before settling at 363 fils. Warba Bank dialed up 2 fils to close at 213 fils on back of over 1 million shares.

Kuwait Investment Co fell 3 fils to 112 fils whereas KIPCO and Coast Investment Co added 2 fils each. International Financial Advisors took in 1.5 fils with a volume of 1.5 million and Securities House Co closed 1.6 fils in green.

Bayan Investment Co rose 1.8 fils and KAMCO paused at 69.9 fils. The company has recorded a profit of KD 621,320 in the period between June and September, a 273.3 pct surge from Q3 of 2016. For the first nine months of the year, earnings rose 11.93 percent to KD 996,680.

Osoul Investment Co trimmed 0.5 fil and Al Deera Holding gave up 1.5 fils. Unicap nudged 0.6 fil into green and Al Salam added 2.8 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co rose 1.9 fils and Sokouk Holding inched 0.1 fil up. Kuwait Insurance Co dialed up 1 fil and Warba Insurance Co clipped 2 fils.

United Real Estate Co slipped 4.4 fils to 74.5 fils whereas National Real Estate Co and Mabanee Co gained 5 fils each Aqar Real Estate Co jumped 15 fils to 75 fils and Mazaya Holding took in 1 fil. Tamdeen Real Estate Co climbed 16 fils to 400 fils.

The bourse has been mixed so far during the week and has added 27 points in last four sessions. It has tumbled 268 points from start of the month and is trading over 9.35 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.

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.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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