Kuwait’s market little changed, volume dips
KIPCO slips 7 fils; VIVA gains
KUWAIT CITY, Nov 22 : Kuwait stocks were little changed on Wednesday after retreating earlier in the week. The price index slipped 2.76 pts in volatile trade to 6,228.21 points even as the broader sentiment remained mixed. The blue chips mostly edged into red zone.
The KSX 15 gauge eased 1.34 points to 903.4 points while weighted index ticked 0.12 pt higher to 394.89 points. The volume turnover meanwhile shrank further to hit a multi-month low. 45.8 million shares changed hands — a 23 pct drop from the day before.
The sectors closed mostly in red. Telecommunications outpaced the rest with 1.96 pct gain whereas parallel market and consumer services dipped 0.96 percent each, the biggest losers of the day. Volume wise, financial services notched the highest market share of 34.7 pct and banks followed with 23.43 percent contribution.
In the individual performers, KIPCO slipped 7 fils to 286 fils extending last session’s losses and Mabanee Co gave up 5 fils to wind up at 723 fils. Gulf Insurance Co soared 50 fils to 700 fils and Kuwait Insurance Co dipped 252 fils.
Zain inched 1 fil higher to 441 fils on back of 1.4 million shares while Kuwiat Telecommunications Co (VIVA) jumped 25 fils to 705 fils. Logistics major Agility gave up 5 fils to wind up at 741 fils after trading 1.4 million shares.
National Bank of Kuwait eased 1 fil and Al-Mutahed dropped 7 fils to 338 fils. The bank has registered a growth of 0.45 pct in Q3 profits during the from Q3, 2016 to KD 13.55 million. During the first nine months of 2017, the bank posted a profit of KD 40.04 million.
The market opened choppy and moved sideways in early trade. The main index fell sharply to plumb the day’s lowest level of 6,183 points amid a brief bout of selling and bounced back again. It see sawed thereafter and closed slightly below the opening mark.
Top gainer of the day, Remal vaulted 16.7 pct to 55 fils while Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co climbed 10 pct to 63.8 fils. Tamkeen slid 14.2 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Aayan topped the volume with 3.4 million shares.
Mirroring the day’s downtick, the losers outnumbered the winners. 41 stocks advanced whereas 48 closed lower. Of the 105 counters active on Wednesday, 16 closed flat. 2,489 deals worth KD 10.2 million were transacted — down 31 pct in value from the day before.
Gulf Cable fell 3 fils to 411 fils and National Industries Group inched 1 fil higher. The company has logged a profit of KD 2.12 million in the third quarter of 2017. In the first nine months, the profits climbed to KD 7.35 million.
Kuwait Foundry Co and ACICO Industries were unchanged at 285 fils and 230 fils respectively whereas Equipment Holding Co dialed up 1.5 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co dropped 6 fils to 633 fil and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co trimmed 1 fil.
Lows
Humansoft Holding was unchanged at KD 3.800 off steep early lows and Combined Group Contracting Co was up 4 fil at 474 fils. PAPCO fell 5 fils to 70 fils and KGL Logistics inched 1 fil higher. Mezzan Holding stood pat at 770 fils.
PAPCO slipped 5 fils whereas ALAFCO took in 2 fils. The company has registered a 133.3 percent surge in profits to KD 32.82 million for the fiscal year that ended Sept 30, The company’s board of directors has recommended cash dividends of 10 fils per share.
Metal and Recycling Co eased 1 fil to 78 fils while Shuaiba Industrial sank 35 fils to 265 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co shed 4 fils and NICBM was up 5 fils at 190 fils.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank and Al Ahli Bank dialed up 1 fil each while Kuwait International Bank added 2 fils. Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the session.
Kuwait Finance House fell 1 fil to 539 fils and Burgan Bank held ground at 539 fils after vacillating earlier in the session. Boubyan Bank took in 2 fils and Warba Bank was unchanged at 214 fils.
Kuwait Investment Co eased 1 fil to 110 fils while National Investment Co trimmed 0.5 fil, International Financial Advisors took in 0.8 fil and Securities House Co added 1.7 fils.
KAMCO fell 1.8 fils to 68 fils and Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) dropped 6 fils, partly erasing last session’s gains. Bayan Investment Co rose 0.9 fil to 38.9 fils and KFIC closed 0.4 fil in green. Unicap inched 0.1 fil into red.
Noor Financial Centre dialed up 1 fil and Madar ticked 0.8 fil into green. Al Imtiaz was unchanged at 159 fils and Coast Investment Co closed 0.6 fil in green.
Kuwait Real Estate Co rose 0.7 fil to 54.4 fils and National Real Estate Co took in 2 fils. Mazaya Holding was unchanged at 107 fils and Abyaar too did not budge from its earlier close of 20.9 fils.
The bourse has been trending lower so far during the week and has slid 80 points in last four sessions. It has shed 35 points from start of the month and is trading over 8.4 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.
Aayan Leasing and Investment has registered a third quarter profit of KD 2.23 million, a 146.4 pct surge from the same period last year. During the first nine months of 2017, the earnings soared 323.3 pct to KD 6.9 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 ninemonth period, it logged a profit of KD 830,200 against a loss of KD 291,200 in the same period in 2016.