Kuwait bourse winds up month on sluggish note – Zain dips 20 fils; NIG gains

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KUWAIT CITY, Oct 31: Kuwait stocks slipped deeper into red on Tuesday to wind up the month on a dour note. The price index, after a tame start, dipped 47.72 points to 6,513.83 pts as selling continued for the third consecutive day led by banks and other heavyweights.

The KSX 15 gauge dropped 12.23 points to 967.81 pts taking the month’s losses to 30 points while weighted index gave up 3.71 points. The volume turnover meanwhile shrank slightly following Monday’s rebound. 89.89 million shares changed hands — a 8.2 pct fall from the day before.

All sectors barring one closed in red. Consumer goods, the only gainer, rose 0.65 percent while oil and gas slumped 3 pct, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, banks accounted for the highest market share of 34.54 pct while financials services followed sith 29.6 percent contribution. Among the losers, National Bank of Kuwait slipped 8 fils to 776 fils after trading 2.8 million shares and Kuwait Finance House was down 6 fils with brisk trading taking the month’s losses to 10 fils. KIPCO extended last session’s retreat with a 6 fils drop to 340 fils.

Zain slid 20 fils to 466 fils as it continued to bleed following last week’s stake sale deal with Omantel while Ooredoo bucked the trend with a 5 fils gain. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) added 4 fils and Agility continued its slide with 17 fils dip to 776 fils.

Gulf Bank rose 3 fils to 256 fils and Ahli United Bank — Kuwait clipped 2 fils. The bank registered a 0.45 pct year-on-year growth in profits during the third quarter to KD 13.55 million.

The market opened on a tame note and moved sideways in early trade. The main index drifted lower thereafter as sentiment turned weak and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 6483 pts in the final minutes. However, it clawed back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Tahssilat soared 10 pct to 31.5 fils and Al Rai Media Group climbed 6.19 percent to stand next. Metal and Recycling Co tumbled 20 percent , the steepest decliner of the day and Ahli United Bank topped the volume 13.6 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s downswing, the losers vastly outnumbered the winners. 29 stocks advanced whereas 70 closed lower. Of the 115 counters active on Tuesday, 16 closed flat. 3584 deals worth KD 21.36 million were transacted — a 29.18 pct jump in value from the day before

National Industries Group rose 5 fils to 155 fils while on back of 6.4 million shares and Gulf Cable shed 18 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co was unchanged at 639 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 1 fil before settling at 325 fils.

Jazeera Airways rose 3 fils to 643 fils and ALAFCO inched 1 fil up to 385 fils partly paring last session’s fall. Equipment Holding Co eased 1 fil and Safat Energy followed suit. Educational Holding Group’s slipped 6 fils to 390 fils.

Humansoft Holding rebounded 69 fils after the losing streak while Independent Petroleum Group dived 43 fils. The company has clocked a 1 pct rise in third quarter profits to KD 1.445 m from the same period last year.

Climbed

Automated Systems Co dropped 10 fils to 150 fils while Al Rai Media Group and EK Holding climbed 7 fils each to close at 120 fils and 234 fils respectively. Combined Group Contracting Co eased 1 fil and UPAC paused at 610 fils.

Kuwait Gulf Links was flat at 61 fils and KGL Logistics trimmed 0.7 fil. Burgan Well Drilling Co slipped 4 filswhile Mezzan Holding and GFH gave up 3 fils each.

In the banking sector, Al Ahli Bank rose 4 fils to 315 fils and Kuwait International Bank dropped 4 fils to 238 fils. Boubyan Bank dipped 8 fils to 440 fils extending Monday’s losses.

Warba Bank fell 3 fils to 233 fils whereas Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the session. Burgan Bank was down 4 fils at 336 fils.

National Investment Co fell 2 fils to 103 fils after trading 1.2 million shares and Coast Investment Co followed suit to end at 40.4 fils. Kuwait Investment Co stalled at 125 fils and International Financial Advisors trimmed 0.7 fil.

Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) dipped 8 fils to 102 fils Securities House Co gave up 1.3 fils. KFIC and Sokouk Holding eased 0.3 fil each while NIH fell 3.4 fils to 70 fils. Commercial Facilities Co was up 3 fils at 180 fils.

Bayan Investment Co clipped 1 fil and KAMCO was flat at 71 fils. The company recorded a profit of KD 621,320 in the period between June and September, a 273.3 pct surge Q3, 2106. For the first nine months period, earnings rose 11.93 percent to KD 996,680.

Tamdeen Investment Co slipped 4 fils whereas Amwal Investment and Al Imtiaz took in 1 fil each. Warba Insurance gave up 1.8 fils and Wethaq Takaful retreated 4 fils to 40 fils.

National Real Estate Co fell 4 fls to 121 fils and Mabanee Co dialed down 1 fil to close at 785 fils. Salhiya Real Estate gained 10 fils whereas REAM slid 50 fils to 250 fils. United Real Estate Co paused at 82 fils and Kuwait Real Estate Co inched 0.2 fil into red.

The bourse has been downbeat so far during the week and has dived 110 points in last three sessions. The index has sank 160 pts from start of the month but is trading 13.32 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Zain’s third quarter earnings dropped 7 percent to nearly KD 40 million , compared to KD 43 million for the same period last year. In the 9M period, profits slipped by 1.6 pct to KD 122 million.

Aayan Real Estate’s third quarter profits slid 79.9 percent to KD 124,510 compared to KD 620,740 in same period last year. In the first nine months of 2017, was up 0.2 pct to KD 1.019 million.

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.

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.

By John Mathews – Arab Times Staff 

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