Kuwait edges lower; snaps 3-day rebound – Americana soars 100 fils; NBK slips

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KUWAIT CITY, Feb 1: Kuwait stocks pulled slightly lower on Monday, snapping the three-day rebound. The bourse eased 7.37 pts in volatile trade to 5197.15 points even as investors consolidated the gains in the earlier sessions. The market mood was cautious while the trading floor digested fresh earnings reports.

The KSX 15 gauge eased 2.2 pts to 827.6 points taking the month’s losses to 57 pts while weighted index edged 1.73 points lower. The volume turnover meanwhile slid below the 200 million mark from the month’s highest level in the last session. 170.75 million shares changed hands – a 40.3 pct slide from Monday.

The sectors closed mostly in red. Consumer goods outshone the rest with 1.37 pct gain whereas telecommunications dived 3.18 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services clocked the highest market share of 37.35 pct while real estate and banks followed with 29.59 percent and 16.4 pct contributions respectively.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait slipped 10 fils to KD 0.710 while Gulf Bank of Kuwait was down 4 fils erasing the gains on Sunday. Investment conglomerate KIPCO was unchanged at 69 fils after posting moderate rise on Monday and Kuwait Food Co (Americana) swung 100 fils higher to KD 1.860.

Telecom major Zain rose 5 fils on back of over 3 million shares while Wataniya Telecom slumped 60 fils to KD 1.080 and is down 20 fils from start of the month. Kuwait Telecommunications Co shed 40 fils to KD 0.900 and Agility held the ground unchanged at KD 0.430.

Jazeera Airways gained 20 fils and ALAFCO edged 2 fils lower. The company has posted net profit of KD 3,014,339 and earnings per share of 3.68 fils in the first quarter ended on 31 Dec 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 4,322,387 and earnings per share of 5.28 fils in the same period last year.

The market opened weak and pulled lower in early trade. The main index plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5088.55 points and veered up amid brief spurt in buying. It climbed into the green zone to peak at 5124.39 pts before retreating back into red as sentiment weakened and moved sideways till the end.

Top gainer of the day, Mashaer Holding Co spiked 11.58 pct to 106 fils while Burgan Well Drilling Co jumped 10 pct. Amar Financing and Leasing Co slid 7.8 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, and Al Dar National Real Estate Co topped the volume with over 19 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s downtick, the losers outnumbered the gainers. 31 stocks advanced while 68 closed lower. Of the 137 counters active on Monday, 38 closed flat. 4265 deals worth KD 12.16 million were transacted – a 52 pct slump in value from the day before.

National Industries Group slipped 4 fils to 110 fils and Gulf Cable was down 5 fils at KD 0.330. Kuwait Foundry Co gave up 8 fils to end at KD 0.210 whereas Kuwait Portland Cement Co was unchanged at KD 1.020.

Shed

ACICO Industries shed 10 fils and NICBM eased 4 fils to KD 0.218 and Equipment Holding Co clipped 2 fils to settle at 53 fils. Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co fell 4 fils and Salbookh Trading Co closed 2 fils in red at 70 fils.

Mezzan Holding Co spiked 40 fils to KD 1.060 and Jazeera Airways climbed 20 fils to KD 0.790 trimming the month’s losses to 110 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co gave up 0.5 fils and KGL Logistics Co held steady at 53 fils.

Ikarus Petroleum Industries Co and Independent Petroleum Group Co slipped 5 fils each to 76 fils and KD 0.320 respectively. Zima Holding Co inched 1 fils up and Mezzan Holding jumped 40 fils to KD 1.060.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank slipped 4 fils to 212 fils and Alhi Bank of Kuwait gave up 5 fils to end at 335 fils to settle at 355 fils. Ahli United Bank dropped 10 fils to KD 0.450 whereas Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the session.

Burgan Bank took in 2 fils and Kuwait Finance House stood pat at KD 0.500 . The bank has logged a net profit of KD 145.84 million and earnings per share of 31.10 fils in the year ending 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 126.47 million earnings per share of 26.98 fils. The Board of Directors has recommended 17% cash dividends as well as 10% bonus shares.

Boubyan Bank paused at KD 0.400 and Kuwait International Bank added 2 fils. 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% cash dividend.

National Investment Co and Bayan Investment Co gave up2 fils each while Securities Group Co closed flat. Tamdeen Investment Co gained 10 fils and Warba Insurance Co followed suit.

The market has been largely positive so far during the week and has jumped 97 points in last two sessions. It has dived 491 points so far during the month and has shed 9 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Ajial Real Estate and Enter. Company has logged a net profit of KD 760,291 and earnings per share of 4.33 fils in the year ended Dec 31, 2015 up from net profit of KD 636,393 and earnings per share of 3.63 fils in 2014.

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 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 January 7, 2016 to buy back or sell a maximum of 10% of its shares for 6 months from date of the approval.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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