Kuwait bourse kicks off week on dull note

Investment gave up 1.2 fils before closing at 25.2 fils. Unicap fell 1.5 fils to 46 fils and Al Deera Holding paused at 27 fils. Amwal trimmed 0.5 fil.

Bayan Investment Co clipped 0.7 fil while Osoul Investment and Al Imtiaz were flat at 42.1 fils and 152 fls respectively. Noor Financial Investment Co fell 2 fils and Ektittab Holding trimmed 0.4 fil.

Mabanee Co shed 10 fils and National Real Estate Co gave up 2 fils before closing at 120 fils. United Real Estate Co slipped 3.9 fils and Mazaya Holding ticked 1 fil higher. Kuwait Real Estate Co eased 0.1 fil to 58.6 fils and Aayan Real Estate Co dropped 6 fils to 72 fils.

The bourse was mixed during last week. The main index closed lower in three of the five sessions and shed 31 points week-on-week. It had rallied 243 pts during whole of January and is trading 3.62 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Mabanee has logged 1.6 pct drop in profits to KD 12.45 million during the fourth quarter of 2017 from same period a year ago. In 2017 fiscal year, the earnings ticked up by 1 pct to KD 49.15 million . The board members has recommended a cash dividend of 10% for FY17, in addition to 5% bonus shares or 5-for100 shares.

ALAFCO’s profit soared 49.6 pct to KD 7.78 million during the first quarter ended on 31 December 2017 from the same period a year ago. The growth in profits is attributed to the purchase off 11 aircrafts in 2017, besides KD 1.6 million profit from selling an aircraft.

Aqar Real Estate Investments’ fourth quarter profits dropped by 14.7 pct from the same period last year to KD 732,000. During fiscal year 2017, earnings saw a marginal year-on-year rise of 1.1 percent to KD 1.76 million. The board of directors has recommended cash dividend of 6 pct or 6 fils per share for FY17.

Al Imtiaz Investment Group slipped into red in the fourth quarter of 2017 as it incurred KD 2.9 million in losses in the quarter against profit of KD 6.7 million in the yearago period. In the full-year 2017, it posted a profit of KD 30.85 mln, up 124.7% from previous year. The company attributed its higher annual profits to selling a part of its stake in an associate.