KSE rises 21.64 pts as volume edges up – NBK rallies 20 fils; Zain flat

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KUWAIT CITY, Feb 23: Kuwait stocks headed north on Tuesday extending the gains to second straight session. The bourse climbed 21.64 pts in tepid trading to 5,166.19 points helped by fresh buying in select counters led by banks even as board remained broadly mixed.

The KSX 15 gauge slipped 10.24 points to 836.4 pts taking the month’s gain to 9 points while weighted index was up by over 3 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile ticked up after the rebound on Monday. 159.87 million shares changed hands — a 9.34 percent rise from last session.

The sectors closed mostly in the green turf. Consumer goods outpaced the rest with 2 pct gain whereas consumer services shed 0.74 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services clocked the highest market share of 46.58 percent while real estate and telecommunications trailed with 26 pct and 10.8 percent contributions respectively.

Among the day’s movers, National Bank of Kuwait rallied 20 fils on back of over 2 million shares to KD 0.730 while Kuwait Finance House was up 10 fils with a volume of over 6 million shares. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) gained 20 fils partly paring the steep drop in the day before.

Telecom services provider Zain was unchanged at KD 0.360 off early lows and saw over 2 million shares change hands while Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) swung 40 fils into red with thin volume. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) rose 10 fils to KD 0.950 whereas Agility added 5 fils.

 Investment conglomerate KIPCO was flat at KD 0.550 whereas Mabanee Company gained 20 fils. The company has posted a net profit KD 48,51 million earnings per share of 57.42 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2015, slightly up from net profit of KD 48.17 million and earnings per share of 57 fils in same period last year. The BOD has recommended 10 pct cash dividends and 5 percent bonus shares.

The market opened slight up and edged higher in early trade. The price index drifted sideways in absence of any strong trend in the trading floor and slipped briefly into red. It touched the day’s lowest level of 5,140.85 points in the final minutes before clawing back to close with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, PAPCO jumped 9.8 percent to 112 fils while Securities House Co climbed 7.8 pct to stand next. IFA Hotels and Resorts slid 10.42 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Dar National Real Estate Co topped the volume with 25.44 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s uptick the market spread was heavily skewed towards the losers. 64 stocks advanced whereas 25 closed lower. Of the 130 counters active on Tuesday, 41 closed flat. 3,258 deals worth KD 16.88 million were transacted — a 114.5 pct surge in value from the day before.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of Kharafi Group, was unchanged at 114 fils and Gulf Cable followed suit. ACICO Industries Co climbed 10 fils to KD 0.280 whereas Boubyan Petrochemicals Co and Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co paused at 445 fils and 340 fils respectively.

Added

Jazeera Airways gained 20 fils recouping the losses on Monday while ALAFCO added 6 fils to settle at KD 0.204. KGL Logistics Co held steady at 56 fils. and Kuwait Resorts Co slipped 5 fils. Zima Holding rose 3 fils on back of over 1 million shares. Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co and Equipment Holding Co stood pat at 174 fils and 51 fils respectively whereas Salbookh Trading Co took in 2 fls to end at 67 fils.

Mezzan Holding shed 20 fils whereas Burgan Well Drilling Co nudged 2 fils up. The company has logged a net profit of KD 1.94 million and earnings per share of 9.32 fils in the nine-month period ended on 31/12/2015 as compared to net profit of KD 221,983 and earnings per share of 1.06 fils in the same period last year.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank eased 2 fils to KD 0.202 and Kuwait International Bank followed suit. The bank has clocked a net profit of KD 16 million and earnings per share of 17.14 fils during 2015 soaring from net profit of KD 13.67 million and earnings per share of 14.65 fils in the last year. The Board of Directors has recommended 9 percent cash dividend.

Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait and Burgan Bank were unchanged at KD 0.345 and KD 0.335 respectively whereas Ahli United Bank rose 5 fils to KD 0.435. Boubyan Bank added 5 fils and Warba Bank closed 2 fils higher at 180 fils.

National Investment Co and KFIC inched 1 fils up each while Noor Financial Investment Co gave up 2.5 fils to end at 44 fils. Ektittab Holding and Sokouk Holding were flat at 28 fils and 31 fils respectively and KMEFIC was up 1 fils at 28 fils.

Bayan Investment Co and International Financial Advisors nudged 0.5 fils each whereas Al Ahleia Insurance Co gained 10 fils. Aayan Real Estate Co rose 4 fils on back of 6.4 million shares and Al Mazaya Holding took in 2 fils.

The market has been largely positive so far during the week and has climbed 25 points in last two sessions. It has gained 51 points from start of the month but has retreated 8 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Credit Rating and Collection Co. has incurred a net loss of KD 454,911 and losses per share of 2.76 fils in 2015 as against net loss of KD 2.26 million and losses per share of 13.73 fils in the year before.

 INOVEST has incurred a net loss of KD 14.37 million and loss per share of 50.48 fils in 2015 as compared to net loss of KD 1.149 million and loss per share of 4.03 fils in the year before.

Injazzat Real Estate Development Company has clocked a net profit KD 3.07 million and earnings per share of 9.2 fils in 2015, rising sharply from net profit of KD 1.51 mln and earnings per share of 4.5 fils in the same period last year. The BOD has recommended 5 pct cash dividends. Kuwait Insurance Company has logged a net profit of KD 5.69 million and earnings per share of 30.69 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2015 up from net profit of KD 5,14 million and earnings per share of 27.64 fils in 2014. The BOD has recommended 20 pct cash dividends.

Aqar Real Estate Investments Co has registered a net profit of KD 2.49 million and earnings per share of 11.07 fils during 2015 as against net profit of KD 2.24 million and earnings per share of 9.81 fils in the year before. Board of Directors recommended 6 percent cash dividends.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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