Kuwait bourse winds up week on sour note

KFH drops 10 fils; Americana flat

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, April 6: Kuwait stocks pulled lower on Thursday to wind up the week on a dull note. The bourse dipped 29.81 pct in choppy trade to 7,029.8 points weighed by select heavyweights even as the broader trend remained mixed.

The KSX 15 gauge inched 0.28 pts down to 958 points and has climbed 24 pts so far during the month while weighted index was almost unchanged at 420 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile soared further mostly on speculative trade. 491 million shares changed hands — an 18.89 pct rise from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in red. Healthcare outshone the rest with 1.31 pct gain whereas industrials shed 1.32 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services garnered the highest market share of 51.8 pct and real estate trailed far behind with 22 percent contribution.

In the individual shares, Kuwait Finance House reversed Wednesday’s gains with a 10 fils drop to 540 fils with a volume of 5.4 million shares while Commercial Bank was down 5 fils at 430. KIPCO slid 25 fils to 475 fils

Zain fell 5 fils to 455 fils after trading 1.8 million shares and Ooredoo stood pat at KD 1.140 off early lows. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) however climbed 20 fils to 920 fils and Agility paused at 650 fils.

National Bank of Kuwait rose 10 fils to 700 fils on back of 3.6 million shares and Gulf Bank of Kuwait was unchanged at 255 fils. The bank logged a net profit of KD 10.14 m in Q4 and during 2016 the earnings clocked KD 42.94 mln.

The market opened firm and ticked up in early trade. The main index scaled the day’s highest mark of 7,077.45 points and retreated thereafter as sentiment turned weak. It bottomed at 699 pts past the midsession before clawing back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Al Mal Investment rallied 10 pct to 22 fils while Advanced Technology Co climbed 7.2 pct to stand next. Nafais dived 21.7 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Manazel topped the volume with 101 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s downswing, the losers outnumbered the winners. 48 stocks advanced whereas 55 closed lower. Of the 142 counters active on Thursday, 39 closed flat. 8,339 deals worth KD 38.6 million were transacted — a 5 pct rise in value from the day before.

National Industries Group fell 2 fils to 126 fils while Kuwait Cement Co and ACICO Industries were flat at 495 fils and 305 fils respectively. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co paused at 216 fils and Boubyan Petrochemical Co climbed 10 fils to 580 fils.

Kuwait Food Co (Americana) was flat at KD 2.500 while Kuwait Foundry Co and Gulf Cable were up 5 fils each to close at 320 fils and 465 fils respectively. KBMMC slipped 10 fils to 116 fils and NICBM was unchanged at 216 fils.

Ground

Jazeera Airways held ground at 570 fils off early lows and ALAFCO followed suit. Al Qurain Petrochemical Co rose 5 fils to 350 fils while Equipment Holding Co and Jeeran Holding gave up 2 fils each.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co fell 3 fils and KGL Logistics Co stood pat at 73 fils. Zimah Holding eased 2 fils to 59 fils and Mezzan Holding was flat at KD 1.020. Hilal Cement Co dialed up 2 fils to end at 208 fils.

Kuwait National Cinema Co vaulted 60 fils to KD 1.500 whereas UPAC and Yiaco were down 10 fils each at 740 fils and 230 fils respectively. KCPC fell 4 fils to 170 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co gained 10 fils.

Burgan Well Drilling Co added 5 fils and Automated Systems Co closed flat at 295 fils. Al Rai Media Group dialed up 2 fils to settle at 176 fils and Napesco shed 20 fils.

In the banking sector, Burgan Bank rose 5 fils to 355 fils whereas Al Ahli Bank stagnated at 305 fils. Ahli United Bank gave up 5 fils and Kuwait International Bank followed suit after trading over 3 million shares.

Boubyan Bank pulled up from last session’s shallow trough to wind up 10 fils higher at 415 fils and Warba Bank stood pat at 265 fils off slight early lows.

Bayan Investment Co rose 3 fils to 51 fils whereas Securities House Co and Securities Group Co paused at 51 fils and 99 fils respectively. KMEFIC edged 1.5 fils higher and KFIC took in 1 fil to close at 45 fils.

KAMCO and Unicap added 1 fil each while Osoul eased 1 fil to 65 fils. Kuwait Investment Co and Tamdeen Investment Co paused at 102 fils and 315 fils respectively whereas Sokouk Holding inched 0.5 fils into green.

Noor Financial Investment Co dialed up 1 fils and Al Deera Holding gave up 2.5 fils. Aayan was up 0.5 fils after trading over 25 million shares and Warba Insurance Co slipped 3 fils.

Kuwait Real Estate Co and Salhiya Real Estate Co were flat at 68 fils and 375 fils respectively while National Real Estate Co tripped 2 fils. Mabanee Co gained 10 fils and United Real Estate Co added 1 fils.

The market was mixed during the week. The price index closed lower in three of the five sessions and is unchanged week-on-week. It had rallied 238 points during whole of March and is trading 22.3 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 208 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Al Mazaya Holding net profits soared 31.7 pct to KD 2.59 million in last quarter of 2016 while profits rose 10 pct to KD 10.25 million during the fiscal year of 2016. The board has recommended an annual cash dividend of 8% or 8 fils per share.

Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co’s fourth quarter net profit dipped o 64% in KD 14,000 from KD 39,000 in same period last year. During the fiscal year of 2016, profits was down 48 percent to KD 1.21 million from KD 2.34 mln in the previous year.

Al Mowasat Health Care has posted KD 1.8 million profits during the fourth quarter of 2016 and for the fiscal year of 2016, earnings rose 35.3 pct to KD 4.52 million from the year before. The board of directors has recommended a dividend payout of 20% or 20 fils per share.

Injazzat Real Estate Development has posted a net profit of KD 550,000 in the last quarter of 2016 and during the fiscal year of 2016, the bank earned KD 3.2 million. The board has recommended a cash dividend of 5% or 5 fils per share for FY 2016.

Ajial Real Estate Entertainment Company (AREEC) net losses narrowed by 22.7 pct to KD 888,620 from KD 1.15 million in Q4 of 2115. The annual profits in 2016 clocked KD 1.5 million and the board has recommended the distribution of cash dividends at 5% of capital.