Kuwait’s index bounces 45.63 pts; volume soars – Mabanee Co gains 20 fils; Ooredoo slips

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KUWAIT CITY, May 25: Kuwait stocks swung higher on Wednesday, as sentiment brightened on rising oil prices and positive regional cues The bourse, after a tame start, jumped 45.63 points to 5368.25 points helped by renewed buying across the board.

The KSX 15 benchmark climbed 6.36 points to 836.19 pts paring the month’s losses to 27 points while weighted index added 2.19 points. The volume turnover meanwhile surged past the 200 million mark to hit a four-week high. 229.97 million shares changed hands — a 67.3 pct rise from the previous session.

The sectors closed mostly in the green turf. Consumer services outshone the rest with 1.59 pct gain whereas oil and gas was down 0.73 percent, the weakest performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services notched the highest market share of 43.12 pct while real estate and telecommunications trailed far behind with 21.8 pct and 18.9 percent contributions respectively.

Among the standout performers National Bank of Kuwait rallied 10 fils on back of over 1 million shares extending an identical gain on Tuesday and KIPCO followed suit to settle at KD 0.530. Mabanee Co climbed 20 fils to KD 0.780 and Humansoft Holding vaulted 100 fils to KD 1.240.

Zain eased 5 fils to KD 0.350 after trading 1.28 million shares and Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) shed 20 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) added 10 fils while logistics major Agility was up 10 fils to KD 0.495 with a volume of 1.2 million.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of the Kharafi Group, stood pat at 110 fils and Kuwait Foundry Company dialed up 2 fils. The company has penciled a net profit of KD 592,402 and earnings per share of 3.85 fils in the January-March period.

The market opened firm and ticked up in early trade. The price index eased briefly to plumb the day’s lowest level of 5321.04 points and swung higher thereafter mid broad buying. It hit the day’s highest mark of 5368.98 pts in the final minutes before closing with strong gains.

Top gainer of the day, FutureKid Entertainment and Real Estate Co soared 15.7 pct to 110 fils and Danah Al Safat Foodstuff climbed 9.8 pct to stand next. Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co slumped 7.14 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Hits Telecom topped the volume with 41.9 million shares,

Mirroring the day’s upswing, the market spread was vastly skewed towards the winners. 63 stocks advanced whereas 25 closed lower. Of the 130 counters active on Wednesday, 42 closed flat. 4597 deals worth KD 13.6 million were transacted – a 54.6 percent surge in value from the day before.

Jazeera Airways rose 10 fils to KD 0.900 and ALAFCO dialed up 4 fils partly recouping the drop in the last session. Mezzan Holding gained 20 fils whereas Independent Petroleum Group was down 20 fils at KD 0.330. Safwan Trading and Contracting Co climbed 15 fils to 305 fils.

Gulf Cable was flat at KD 0.400 and Kuwiat Portland Cement Co followed suit to close at KD 1.000. Shuaiba Industrial Co too stood pat at KD 0.275 and Boubyan Petrochemicals Co gave up 10 fils to wind up at KD 0.510. Salbookh Trading Co inched 1 fils into red.

Rose

Equipment Holding Co rose 4 fils on back of 5.6 million shares and ACICO Industries Co swung 10 fils lower. The company has clocked a net profit of KD 3.85 million and earnings per share of 14.11 fils in the first quarter of 2016 .

Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co clipped 0.5 fils whereas KGL Logistics Co was unchanged at 79 fils. United Projects Group gained 10 fils whereas PAPCO paused at 106 fils. Educational Holding Group slipped 10 fils to 190 fils.

In the banking sector, Kuwait Finance House rose 5 fils to KD 0.470 and Ahli United Bank was up by same measure. Al Ahli Bank and Kuwait International Bank stood pat at KD 0.420 and KD 0.200 respectively while Boubyan Bank closed 5 fils in green. Warba Bank was flat at 172 fils.

Commercial Bank gave up 5 fils whereas Gulf Bank of Kuwait held steady at 226 fils. The bank has registered a net profit of KD 8.76 million and earnings per share of 3 fils in the first quarter down from net profit of KD 9.78 million and earnings per share 3 fils in the same period last year

National Investment Co clawed back from slight early lows to close flat at 110 fils and Bayan Investment Co gave up 0.5 fils. The company has incurred a first quarter net loss of KD 199,725 and loss per share of 0.55 fils.

Securities Group Co stood pat at 83 fils and while Securities House Co inched 0.5 fils up on back of 7.6 million shares. Sokouk Holding Co and Warba Insurance Co paused at 37 fils and 102 fils whereas Al Deera Holding took in 2 fils.

National Real Estate Co and Salhia Real Estate Co closed flat at 91 fils and 360 fils whereas Kuwait Real Estate Co and United Real Estate Co were up 1 fils each. Al Mazaya Holding Co rose 4 fils to 122 fils.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has gained 43 points in last four sessions. It has retreated 12 points from start of the month and is down 4.4 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 190 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news , Hilal Cement Company has registered a net profit of KD 415,000 and earnings per share of 5.4 fils in the first quarter of 2016 rebounding from a net loss of KD 78,685 and losses per share of 1.0 fils in 2015 Q1.

Advanced Technology Company has registered a net profit of KD 1.53 million and earnings per share of 10.25 fils in the three-month period ending March 31, 2016 as against a net profit of KD 1.15 million and earnings per share of 7.69 fils in the same period last year.

Shuaiba Industrial Co. has posted a net profit of KD 629,557 and earnings per share of 7.93 f ils in the first quarter of 2016 as compared to net profit of KD 444,921 and Earnings per share 5.65 fils in the same period last year.

Aqar Real Estate Investments Co as penciled a net profit of KD 278,860 and earnings per share 1.30 fils in the first three months of 2016 as against a net profit of KD 506,241 and earnings per share of 2.22 fils in the same period last year.

Mezzan Holding Co has reported a net profit of KD 5.19 million and earnings per share of 16.68 fils in the quarter ending March 31, 2016 as against net profit of KD 5.45 million and earnings per share of 17.52 fils in the same period last year.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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