Kuwait bourse climbs in choppy trade; volume up – Zain gains 10 fils; Americana tumbles

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KUWAIT CITY, Oct 25: Kuwait stocks pulled higher on Wednesday recouping last session’s losses. The price index climbed 23.04 pts in choppy trade to 6,621.4 pts helped by last minute buying in select counters. The frontline stocks however closed mixed.

The KSX 15 fell 1.93 pts to 995.1 points while weighted index edged 0.86 pt lower to 428.53 points. The volume turnover meanwhile saw modest rebound following Tuesday’s dip. 64.67 million shares changed hands — a 25.3 pct surge from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in green. Industrials outshone the rest with 1.95 pct gain whereas consumer goods slid 3.51 pct, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services garnered the highest market share of 31 pct while real estate followed with 23.9 percent contribution.

In the individual shares, Humansoft Holding clawed back from last session’s trough with a 40 fils jump to KD 3.990 and Nafais Holding soared 90 fils to 600 fils. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) however tumbled 200 fils to KD 1.750 with thin trading.

Zain rallied 10 fils to 513 fils on back of 10.4 million shares and Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) shed 15 fils. Agility stood pat at 842 fils whereas Ooredoo was not traded during the session.

National Bank of Kuwait took in 1 fil with a volume of 2.3 million shares and Kuwait Finance House followed suit. The bank’s Q3 earnings rose 7.6 pct year-on-year to KD 56.22. In the nine-month period, profits grew 12 percent to KD 137.87 million.

The market opened soggy and drifted lower in early trade. The main index plumbed the day’s lowest level of 6,558 pts half way into the session and moved sideways thereafter. It rose sharply in the final minutes amid spurt in buying and closed with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Nafais soared 17.6 pct to 600 fils and Al Safat Energy stood next with 9.5 pct gain. Tahssilat dived 16.39 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Zain topped the volume 10.4 million shares.

Despite the day’s upswing, the losers slightly outpaced the winners. 45 stocks advanced whereas 48 closed lower. Of the 116 counters active on Wednesday, 23 closed flat. 2,493 deals worth KD 12.6 million were transacted — a 28.4 pct rise in value from the day before.

National Industries Group was flat at 150 fils after trading over 1 million shares and Gulf Cable too did not budge from its earlier close of 480 fils. Kuwait Cement Co shed 13 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement was up 3 fils at 980 fils.

Jazeera Airways slipped 3 fils to 640 fils and ALAFCO gave up 5 fils before settling at 640 fils. Shuaiba Industrial Co dropped 10 fils whereas Metal and Recycling Co held ground at 109 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co rose 8 fils to 298 fils and ACICO Industries clipped 2 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co was unchanged a 651 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co fell 5 fils to 39.1 fils. NICBM was down 7 fils at 179 fils.

Burgan Well Drilling Co took in 2 fils whereas Kuwait National Cinema Co and Educational Holding Group paused at KD 1.340 and 308 fils respectively. Equipment Holding Co eased 0.5 fil to 39.1 fils.

Trimmed

Combined Group Contracting Co gave up 2 fils whereas Al Rai Media Group slipped 8 fils to 112 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co ticked 0.8 fil up to 62 fils and KGL Logistics trimmed 0.5 fil.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was flat at 250 fils and Commercial Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 400 fils. Al Ahli Bank took in 1 fil before settling at 309 fils and Kuwait International Bank rose 1 fil.

Burgan Bank fell 2 fils to 346 fils and Ahli United Bank — Kuwait trimmed 1 fil. The bank has registered a growth of 0.45 pct in profits during the third quarter of 2017 from Q2, 2016 to KD 13.55 million. During the first nine months, the bank posted a profit of KD 40.04 m.

Boubyan Bank stagnated at 460 fils and Warba Bank clipped 2 fils. The bank’s third quarter earnings soared 428.4 pct to KD 2.23 million from same period of 2016. During the first nine months, the profits jumped 442 percent to KD 4.75 million.

KIPCO slipped 2 fils to 351 fils and National Investment Co inched 1 fil into green with a volume of 1.5 million. International Financial Advisors gave 1.6 fils and Kuwait Investment Co eased 1 fil. Coast Investment Co closed 0.8 fil higher.

KAMCO dropped 8 fils to 71 fils whereas Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) climbed 8 fils. Securities House Co took in 0.2 fil and KMEFIC nudged 0.5 fil into green. Noor Financial Investment Co rose 1.9 fils to 61.5 fils.

Sokouk Holding rose 1.6 fils to 55 fils while Bayan Investment Co and Al Madina Investment Co trimmed 0.2 fil each. Amwal Investment was down 2.9 fils at 32.1 fils and Al Imtiaz closed 1 fil down. Kuwait Insurance Co climbed 11 fils to 286 fils.

Mabanee Co fell 2 fils to 789 fils and Salhiya Real Estate Co shed 10 fils. National Real Estate Co eased 1 fil and United Real Estate Co inched 0.2 fil into red. Mazaya Holding ticked 1 fil lower.

The bourse has been mixed so far during the week and has retreated 12 points in last four sessions. The index has dipped 58 pts from start of the month and has rallied 15.19 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

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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