Kuwait market winds up week on firm note

Americana gains 19 fils; KFH flat

KUWAIT CITY, Nov 16: Kuwait stocks eked modest gains on Thursday to wind up the week on a firm note. The price index, after trading sideways for most part of the session, climbed 23.75 pts to 6,309.31 points helped by late spurt in buying in select counters. The overall mood however was mixed.

The KSX 15 gauge ticked 1 points higher to 925.96 pts while weighted index was little changed at 402.96 points. The volume turnover meanwhile sank below the 100 million mark following last session’s surge. 67.8 million shares changed hands — a 34.39 pct dip from the day before.

The sectors closed in the green turf. Consumer goods outshone the rest with 2.45 percent gain whereas telecommunications shed 1.3 percent, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, financial services notched the highest market share of 59.26 pct and parallel market trailed way behind with 26.62 percent contribution.

In the individual performers, Kuwait Food Co (Americana) climbed 19 fils to KD 1.699 and Humansoft forged ahead with 37 fils jump to KD 3.800. Burgan Bank gained 5 fils and Al Ahli Bank was up 7 fils at 309 fils.

Zain rose 3 fils to 460 fils on back of 1.6 million shares whereas Ooredoo slid 21 fils to KD 1.063. Kuwait Telecommunications Co slipped 6 fils to 697 fils and Agility was down 8 fils at 377 fils.

National Bank of Kuwait inched 1 fil up with a volume of 1.9 million shares and Warba Bank added 3 fils. The bank’s third quarter earnings soared 428.4 pct to KD 2.23 million from same period of 2016. .

The market opened on tame note and moved sideways in early trade. The price index drifted slightly lower to plumb the day’s lowest level of 6309 points well past the midsession and headed north thereafter. It rose sharply in the final minutes to close with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Kuwait Cable Vision soared 18.4 pct to 27 fils and Al Mal Investment scaled 17.6 percent to stand next. Amar Financing tumbled 19.7 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Unicap topped the volume with over 20 million shares.

Despite the day’s upswing, the losers slightly outnumbered the winners. 44 stocks advanced whereas 48 closed lower. Of the 115 counters active on Thursday, 23 closed flat. 3050 deals worth 9.2 million shares were transacted — a a 60 pct slide in value from the day before.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of Kharafi Group, inched 1 fil into red while Gulf Cable was up 5 fils at 428 fils. Kuwait Portland Cement Co soared 48 fils to 959 fils and Shuiaba Industrial gained 20 fils. Metal and Recycling Co stood pat at 80 fils.

Jazeera Airways took in 2 fils and Kuwait Foundry Co climbed 19 fils to 276 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co ticked 1 fil higher and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co eased 1 fil.

Gained

NAPESCO was flat at 808 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co took in 1 fil. KCPC gained 9 fils and KPPC trimmed 1.1 fils. Equipment Holding Co inched 0.6 fil into green.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co rose 2.5 fils to 61.4 fils and KGL Logistics gave up 0.4 fil. Mashaer Holding was up 2.3 fils to 65.5 fils. ACICO Industries gave up 8 fils and NICBM dialed up 2 fils.

Mezzan Holding gained 5 fils and Alrai Media Group followed suit. The compant has incurred loss of KD 143,000 in the third quarter of 2017. During the first nine months, the profits dipped by 49 pct to KD 1.5 million.

In the banking sector, Kuwait International Bank fell 3 fils to 224 fils whereas Kuwait Finance House and Gulf Bank paused at 549 fils and 243 fils respectively. Al Mutahed too was falat at 363 fils and Boubyan Bank was down 5 fils at 420 fils.

Kuwait Investment Co fell 3 fils while National Investment Co and KIPCO eased 1 fil each. Coast Investment Co inched 0.1 fil up whereas Arzan and KMEFIC held ground at 32 fils and 24 fils respectively. Securities House Co closed 0.8 fil in red.

KAMCO and KFIC eased 0.1 fil each. KAMCO recorded a profit of KD 621,320 in the period between June and September, a 273.3 pct surge from KD 166,430 in the third quarter of 2016. For the first nine months, earnings rose 11.93 percent to KD 996,680.

Unicap added 0.8 fil to close at 38.9 fils. Osoul Investment Co gave up 1 fil and Sokouk Holding fell 1.5 fils to 50.5 fils. Bayan Investment Co gave up 0.8 fil.

Noor Financial Investment Co and Amwal paused at 59 fils and 35 fils respectively.Kuwait Insurance Co slipped 9 fils to 275 fils and Warba Insurance Co took in 2 fils.

National Real Estate Co fell 1 fil to 120 fils and United Real Estate Co rose 3.5 fils to 78 fils. Mabanee Co gained 3 fils and Sanam Real Estate Co climbed 4.5 fils to 36.5 fils. Mazaya Holding clipped 2 fils before ending at 109 fils.

The bourse was mixed during the week. The price index closed higher in three of the five sessions and has gained 50 points week-on-week. It has dived 245 points from start of the month and is trading over 9.76 pct higher 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. Revenues amounted to KD 259 million and EBITDA stood at KD 104 million. In the 9M period, profits slipped by 1.6 pct to KD 122 million.

Kuwait Finance and Investment has posted a 35 percent year-on-year surge in profits to KD 299,483 for the first nine months of 2017 while earnings per share surged 35 percent to 1.0 fils. Total operating revenue rose 10% percent to KD 4.015 million during the period.

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 million 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.