Kuwait winds up week in red; volume shrinks – NAPESCO dives 45 fils; KFH gains

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KUWAIT CITY, July 20: Kuwait stock pulled lower on Thursday to end the week on a dour note. The price index, pared back steeper early session losses to close 12.87 pts down at 6,781.02 points weighed by speculative selling in select counters. Some of the banks shone whereas other heavyweights closed mostly in red.

The KSX 15 benchmark rose 4.22 points to 931.35 pts taking the year’s gains to 46 points while weighted index edged 1.17 pts higher. The volume turnover meanwhile receded after hitting multi-month high in the year before. 98.5 million shares changed hands — a 14 pct drop from the day before.

Among notable movers, Burgan Bank slipped 6 fils to 333 fils after eking modest gains in the last session and KIPCO was down 6 fils at 340 fils NAPESCO plunged 45 fils to KD 1.455 and Humansoft Holding dived 50 fils to KD 4.200.

Zain eased Wednesday’s gains with a 2 fils drop to 430 fils after trading 3.8 million shares and Ooredoo was down 5 fils at KD 1.170. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) dipped 14 fils and Agility clipped 2 fils before settling at 836 fils.

National Bank of Kuwait rose 3 fils on back of over 1 million shares and Gulf Bank gave up 2 fils. The bank has registered a 12.3 pct rise in the second quarter profits to KD 13.4 million from same period last year. During the first half , profits was up 10 percent to KD 22.76 mln.

The market opened on firm note and edged higher in early trade. The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 6,796 points and retreated sharply thereafter. It drifted sideways before slipping further to bottom at 6,728 pts past the mid-session. It clawed back and closed with moderate losses.

Top gainer of the day, Arzan rallied 8.99 pct to 37.6 fils and OSOS climbed 8.59 pct to stand next. Energy Holding Co slid 8.58 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz topped the volume with 12.3 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s downtick, the losers outnumbered the winners. 45 stocks advanced whereas 62 closed lower. Of the 122 counters active on Thursday, 15 closed flat.

National Industries Group inched 1 fil up to 137 fils on back of 1.8 million shares and Gulf Cable slipped 5 fils to 420 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co was unchanged at 205 fils while Metal and Recycling Co tripped 2 fils.

Equipment Holding Co added 1.9 fils to close at 49.9 fils while NICBM was down 9 fils at 180 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co dipped 6 fils to 557 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co climbed 15 fils to 341 fils.

Jazeera Airways gained 3 fils whereas ALAFCO trimmed 3 fils. The company’s earnings surged 49 pct to KD 5.78 million in third quarter ended 30 June from same period last year. During the nine-month period ended 30 June 2017, the profits soared 66.7% in profits to KD 16.57m.

Higher

Automated Systems Co rose 4 fils to 181 fils and Burgan Well Drilling Co inched 1 fil higher to 91 fils. Eyas Higher and Technical Education Co dipped 10 fils and AWJ Holding edged 0.9 fil into green. ACICO Industries stood pat at 255 fils.

Yiaco Medical fell 8 fils to 164 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts Co was unchanged at 285 fils. Al Rai Media Group gave up 2 fils and Mezzan Holding was down 6 fils at 917 fils.

In the banking sector, Commercial Bank climbed 10 fils to 320 fils partly recouping Wednesday’s drop while Al Ahli Bank edged 1 fil lower. AlMutahed fell 2 fils to 404 fils with thin trading.

Kuwait Finance House rallied 14 fils on back of 6.3 million shares to 517 fils taking month’s gains to 34 fils while Boubyan Bank took in 2 fils. Kuwait International Bank slipped 3 fils and Warba Bank closed 2 fils in red.

National Investment Co rose 3 fils to 107 fils while International Financial Advisors inched 0.2 fil higher. Coast Investment Co was up 0.4 fil at 41 fils and Securities House slipped 1.8 fils after trading 1.9 million shares.

KAMCO added 2.3 fils and UNICAP ended 2.4 fils in red. The company’s ordinary general meeting has approved the board’s recommendation for a dividend of 5% as bonus shares for fiscal year 2016. Gulf Insurance Co climbed 10 fils to 510 fils.

Sokouk Holding eased 0.3 fil to 47 fils and Bayan Investment Co edged 1.1 fils down. KFIC and Noor Financal Investment Co erased 0.5 fil each while Al Deera Holding dialed up 1.9 fils. Tamdeen Investment Co paused at 300 fils.

National Real Estate Co and Salhiya Real Estate Co were flat at 126 fils and 385 fils respectively whereas Mabanee Co and Mazaya Holding fell 2 fils each to close at 763 fils and 115 fils respectively. Kuwait Real Estate Co eased 0.7 fil.

Ream was flat at 399 fils and Abyaar Real Estate Co took in 0.6 fil. Al Aqaria trimmed 0.5 fil before settling at 38.5 fils and Remal clipped 2 fils. United Real Estate Co ticked 0.2 fil up.

The market was mixed during the week. The price index closed lower in three of the five sessions and shed 7 points week-on-week. It has climbed 19 points from start of the month and is trading 17.9 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, S&P Global Ratings has affirmed “A-/A-2” long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on Gulf Bank. The rating agency also revised its outlook on the bank to “positive” from “stable”.

National Real Estate’s (NREC) ordinary general meeting has approved raising its capital to KD 150 million, by issuing 1.5 billion shares at a nominal value of 100 fils each. The company’s current capital stands at KD 98.97 million.

KAMCO has sold a controlling stake worth 25.3 million pounds in a British property leased to Amazon UK Services Ltd. The deal will results in a drop of 56 million pounds while and the liabilities will see a 56.5 million dip.

Educational Holding Group has posted a 13 pct drop in profits in the quarter ended May 31, 2017. The profits totaled KD 1.14 million as against KD 1.31 million in the same period last year. In the nine-month period ending May 30, the earnings grew 22 pct to KD 4.32m.

Fitch Ratings upgraded GFH Financial Group’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) from “B-” to “B”, with a “Positive” outlook.

Aqar Real Estate Investment’s second quarter profits surged 27 pct to KD 350,410 mln from same period last year helped by increase of rent revenues. The revenues rose 23.4 percent to KD 687,320 in the first half while operating revenues climbed 21.6 percent to KD 987,070.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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