Kuwait stocks extend losses; volume swells – Agility dips 45 fils; Gulf Bank gains

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KUWAIT CITY, Oct 30: Kuwait stocks swung lower on Monday extending the losses from the previous session. The bourse dipped 46.2 points to 6,561.55 points weighed by fresh selling in blue chips led by banks and telecom service providers.

The KSX 15 gauge fell 1.1 points to 980.04 pts and weighted index gave up 3.25 pts before settling at 423.62 points. The volume turnover meanwhile jumped to a 20-day high following Sunday’s pullback. 87.92 million shares changed hands — a 24.8 surge from the day before.

All sectors barring one closed in the red turf. Parallel market, the only gainer, rose 0.55 pct while insurance sector slid 1.22 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, real estate notched the highest market share of 37.4 percent and financial services followed with 22.9 pct contribution.

Among notable losers, National Bank of Kuwait dropped 5 fils after trading 1.9 million shares and Burgan Bank followed suit to close at 5 fils. Investment conglomerate KIPCO too shed 5 fils and Humansoft Holding extended Sunday’s losses with 75 fils tumble to KD 3.875.

Zain slipped 13 fils to 486 fils with brisk trading of over 9 mln shares and Ooredoo gave up 3 fils to end at KD 1.150. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) fell 3 fils to 752 fils and logistics major Agility slid 41 fils to 793 fils.

Gulf Bank bucked the trend to add 3 fils and Kuwait Finance House trimmed 1 fil. The bank has chalked 7.6 percent increase in profits during the third quarter of 2017 to KD 56.22 million compared to KD 52.25 million in the same period last year.

The market opened firm and ticked slightly higher in early trade. The price index scaled the day’s highest level of 6,610 pts and pulled lower thereafter amid broad selling pressure. It bottomed at 6,534 points in the final minutes before clawing back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Metal and Recycling Co rallied 11.11 pct to 100 fils and Mashaer climbed 7.47 percent to stand next. Warba Insurance Co dived 12.5 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Investors Holding Group topped the volume with 19.8 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s downswing, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the losers. 29 stocks advanced whereas 65 closed lower. Of the 116 counters active on Monday, 22 closed flat. 3,594 deals worth KD 16.54 million were transacted — a 24.6 pct surge in value from the day before.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of the Kharafi Group, inched 1 fil up to 150 fils and Gulf Cable was down 4 fils at 480 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co eased 1 fil and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co stood pat at 326 fils.

Jazeera Airways was flat at 640 fils and ALAFCO gave up 3 fils to wind up at 384 fils. Heavy Engineering and Shipbuilding Co took in 1 fil and Equipment Holding Co ticked 0.4 fil into green.

Trading

Kuwait Portland Cement Co was unchanged at 980 fils with razor thin trading and Educational Holding Group fell 3 fils to 316 fils. ACICO Industries shed 7 fils and EK Holding was down 13 fils at 227 fils.

NAPESCO rose 1 fil to 825 fils and KCPC was up 5 fils at 150 fils. Burgan Well Drilling trimmed 1 fil and Energy Holding Co pulled 3 fils into red. Metal and Recycling Co climbed 10 fils to 100 fils.

Mezzan Holding shed 15 fils and Alrai Media Group dropped 6 fils. The company has incurred loss of KD 143,000 in Q3. During the first nine months, the company registered a decline of 49 percent in earnings to KD 1.5 million. In the banking sector, Commercial Bank rose 5 fils to 400 fils and Al Ahli Bank clipped 2 fils. Al Mutahed slipped 5 fils and Kuwait International Bank was down by same measure to end at 242 fils.

Warba Bank fell 3 fils and Boubyan Bank dipped 8 fils. The bank’s profits rose 13.8 pct to KD 12.2 million in the July-September period, as compared to KD 10.72 million in the year-ago period. In the first nine months, it recorded a 15 pct rise in earnings to KD 34.07 million.

National Investment Co eased 1 fil to 105 fils while Unicap and Kuwait Investment Co clipped 2 fils each. International Financial Advisors trimmed 0.3 fil while Coast Investment Co and KFIC paused at 42.4 fils and 47 fils.

KAMCO and Al Madina Investment Co added 0.5 fil eachwhereas Al Mal Investment gave up 2 fils to settle at 29.2 fils. GIH rose 3.4 fils to 23.5 fils while Noor Financial Investment Co and KMEFIC eased 0.1 fil each.

Bayan Investment Co edged 0.9 fil up to 45.9 fils and Sokouk Holding closed 0.3 fil in green. Osoul Investment Co dialed up 0.8 fil whereas Al Imtiaz and Amwal stood pat at 165 fils and 34 fils respectively.

National Real Estate Co slipped 6 fils to 125 fils whereas Mabanee Co and United Real Estate paused at 786 fils and 82 fils respectively. Salhiya Real Estate Co gave up 5 fils to end at 350 fils.

The bourse has been trending lower so far during the week and has dived 62 points in last two sessions. The index has slumped 113 pts from start of the month and has rallied 14.15 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, In the bourse related news, 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.

Warba Insurance Company posted a loss of KD 3.1 million during the second quarter ended on June 30, 2017 as compared to profits of KD 2.2 million in the 2nd quarter of 2016.

Independent Petroleum Group (IPG) has clocked a 1 pct rise in third quarter profits to KD 1.445 million from the same period last year. In the January-September period the earnings jumped 28.2 percent to KD 5.058 million.

By John Mathews – Arab Times Staff

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