Kuwait bourse treads water; volume recedes – Mabanee Co soars 40 fils; Americana dives

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KUWAIT CITY, Jan 26: Kuwait stocks trod water on Tuesday following a losing streak amid sliding oil prices and bearish global backdrop. The bourse inched 1.7 pts lower to 4,936.51 points in lackluster trade even as investors toed caution.

The KSX 15 benchmark rose 0.99 pts to 7,77.89 points while weighted index was up 0.48 points at 333.11 points. The volume turnover meanwhile shrank below the 100 million mark after hitting the month’s highest earlier in the week. 87.17 million shares changed hands — a 43.55 pct dip from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly mixed. Healthcare outpaced the rest with 2.35 pct gain whereas basic materials slid 2.15 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, real estate accounted for the highest market share of 33.8 percent while banks and financial services followed with 25.4 pct and 24.8 percent contributions respectively.

In the individual shares Mabanee Co soared 40 fils to KD 0.860 while Tamdeen Investment Co was up 10 fils at KD 0.405. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) slid 60 fils to KD 1.760 and has retreated 240 fils from start of the month whereas investment conglomerate KIPCO held steady at KD 0.500 off slight early highs.

Telecom major Zain was unchanged at KD 0.325 whereas Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) climbed 20 fils to KD 1.060 trimming the month’s losses to 40 fils.

Logistics major Agility gave up 5 fils to end at KD 0.410 and Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) stood pat at KD 0.990. The company has posted a net profit of KD 42.95 million and earnings per share of 86 fils in 2015, up from KD 40.36 million net profit and earnings per share of 81 fils in the year before. The market opened weak and drifted slightly lower in early trade.

The price index troughed at 4,916.17 pts even investors remained wary of the market direction before nudging up. It moved sideways in the second half and closed almost unchanged.

Top gainers of the day, Real Estate Trade Centre Co (Marakez) and Kuwait Cable Vision spiked 9.76 pct each whereas Osoul Invtesment sank 7.35 percent, the steepest decliner of the day. Ithmar Bank topped the volume with 17.4 million shares

The market spread was skewed towards the losers. 34 stocks advanced whereas 50 closed lower. Of the 116 counters active on Tuesday 32 closed flat. 2492 deals worth KD 6.7 million were transacted — a 35.5 pct drop in value from the day before.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of Kharafi Group, was unchanged at KD 0.108 and ACICO Industries Co too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.265. Boubyan Petrochemicals Co and NICBM were down 10 fils each and Gulf Cable gained 10 fils to end at KD 0.315.

Jazeera Airways stagnated at KD 0.790 off early lows and ALAFCO followed suit. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co eased 1.5 fils whereas KGL Logistics Co took in 1.5 fils to end at 48 fils.

Added

Educational Group Holding Co and Mezzan Holding added 10 fils each whereas Zima Holding stood pat at 80 fils. United Projects Group shed 10 fils whereas Gulf Petroleum Investment Co inched 0.5 fils into red.

Equipment Holding Co took in 2 fils whereas Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co slipped 6 fils extending the loss in last session. Mashaer Holding Co rose 5 fils to 100 fils whereas Boubyan International Co and City Group paused at 25 fils and 380 fils respectively.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait rose 10 fils to KD 0.670. The bank has logged a net profit of KD 282.16 mllion and earnings per share of 56 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2015 as against net profit of KD 261.80 million and earnings per share of 53 fils in the year before. The Board of Directors has recommended 30 percent cash dividends and 5 pct bonus shares.

 Gulf Bank of Kuwait and Ahli United Bank were flat at KD 0.206 and KD 0.420 respectively whereas Kuwait International Bank clipped 2 fils. Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait were not traded during the session. Warba Bank eased 2 fils.

Kuwait Finance House fell 5 fils to KD 0.445 after trading 1.7 million shares and Boubyan Bank followed suit. The bank has recorded a net profit KD 35.23 million and earnings per share of 17.09 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2015. The Board of Directors has recommended 5 pct cash dividends and 5 percent bonus shares.

National Investment Co took in 1 fils whereas Aayan Leasing and Investment Co and KFIC closed 1 fils lower each. Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) retreated 4 fils to 85 fils whereas Sokouk Holding Co added 2.5 fils on back of 2.8 million shares.

Aayan Leasing and Investment Co inched 1 fils down and Ektittab Holding Co followed suit to close at 25 fils. United Real Estate Co rose 5 fils to 93 fils and National Real Estate Co closed 3 fils higher. Al Mazaya Holding Co took in 1 fils whereas Alaragan International Real Estate Co pulled 8 fils lower.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has dropped 9 points in last three sessions. The price index has dived 678 points so far during the month and has slumped 12 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Injazzat Real Estate Developement 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 and earnings per share of 4.5 fils in the same period last year. The BOD has recommended 5 pct cash dividends.

Al-Mowasat Health Care Co has posted a net profit of KD 3.34 million and earnings per share of 32.89 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2015 as against net profit of KD 2.005 million and earnings per share of 19.73 fils in the same period last year. The Board of Directors has recommended 15% cash dividend.

Al-Enmaa Real Estate Co added 3 fils. The company has posted a net profit of KD 4.38 million and earnings per share of 9.73 fils for the year ending Dec 31, 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 3.36 million earnings per share of 7.47 fils in the year before.

Gulf Insurance Group has been granted the approval by Capital Markets Authority on Jan 7, 2016 to buy back or sell a maximum of 10% of its shares for 6 months from date of the approval.

Al Safat Real Estate Co has incurred a net loss of KD 53,673 and loss per share of 0.22l fils in the period ending 31 Oct 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 96,933 and earnings per share of 0.40 fils in the same period of 2014.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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