Kuwait bourse extends losses in volatile trade

Americana tumbles 111 fils; ABK ticks up

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, April 3: Kuwait stocks pulled lower on Tuesday extending the losing streak to third straight session. The All Shares Index dipped 46.65 pts in volatile trade to 4,846.22 points led by blue chips even as the overall sentiment remained tepid.

The Premier Index slid 58.89 points while main market index was down 25.54 points at 4,864.13 pts, The volume turnover meanwhile continued to rise for the third consecutive day. 52.8 million shares changed hands — up11.6 pct from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in red. Technology outshone the rest with 115 pct surge and industrials skidded 48 pct, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, banking sector mustered the highest market share of 28.6 percent and real estate followed with 17 pct contribution.

Among the prominent losers, Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) sank 111 fils to KD 1.261 and NAPESCO slid 63 fils to 722 fils. National Bank of Kuwait extended last session’s losses with a 5 fils fall to 715 fils after trading 3.7 million shares and Burgan Bank was down 10 fils at 279 fils.

Zain slipped 5 fils to 462 fils with a volume of 1.6 million shares and while Ooredoo recouped Monday’s steep losses with a 114 fils rebound to 965 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) slid 40 fils to 760 fils and Agility shed 20 fils.

Al Ahli Bank took in 2 fils and Al Mutahed dropped 12 fils. The bank’s profits surged 262 pct to KD 4.42 million during the fourth quarter of 2017 from same period in 2016.

The market opened firm and edged higher in early trade. The Al Shares Index scaled the day’s highest level of 4,896 pts almost half way into the session and retreated thereafter as selling kicked in. It continued to slide and bottomed at 4,826 pts in the final minutes before clawing back slightly at close.

Top gainer of the day, BIIHC soared 20.5 pct to 32.9 fils and Aayan Real Estate Co dived 16 percent to stand next. KMEFIC skidded 11.8 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Jiyad topped the volume with over 5 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s drop, the losers vastly outnumbered the winners. 35 stocks advanced whereas 77 closed lower. Of the 125 counters active on Tuesday, 13 closed flat. 3,124 deals worth KD 12.9 million were transacted — down 7.5 pct in value from the day before.

Kuwait Foundry Co fell 2 fils to 348 fils and Gulf Cable shed 12 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co gained 17 fils on back of 3.2 million shares and Kuwait Portland Cement Co ticked 1 fil into red and Equipment Holding gave up 2.7 fils.

Hilal Cement and ACICO added 3 fils each to close at 66 fils and 250 fils respectively whereas NICBM dipped 17 fils to 161 fils. Educational Holding took in 1 fil and Independent Petroleum Group was down 9 fils at 371 fils.

Profit

Humansoft Holding surged 198 fils to KD 3.998 and Inovest dialed up 2.5 fils. The company has logged a loss of $13.1mln in the Q4 of 2017 as against a profit of $900,000 in the same period in 2016. During the fiscal year 2017, net profits attributed to shareholders dipped by 42 pct to $5.9m.

Jazeera Airways partly recouped last session’s losses with a 8 fils gain while ALAFCO dropped 8 fils to 366 fils. IFA Hotels and Resorts and KCPC slipped 6 fils each to 100 fils and 154 fils respectively while OSOS was down 8 fils at 90 fils.

Kuwait National Cinema Co paused at KD 1.099 fils and UPAC slipped 7 fils. Al Qurain Petrochemical Co trimmed 1 fils and Boubyan Petrochemical Co shed 20 fils. KGL Logistics was up 0.4 fil at 46.5 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank fell 3 fils to 251 fils and Kuwait International Bank clipped 2 fils after trading 1.3 million shares. Warba Bank held ground at 231 fils.

Kuwait Finance House shed 10 fils after trading 3.6 million shares and Burgan Bank followed suit to end at 279 fils. Commercial Bank was up 5 fils at 450 fils and Boubyan Bank dipped 8 fils.

National Investment Co fell 3.7 fils to 95.3 fils and International Financial Advisors trimmed 0.4 fils. Kuwait Investment Co eased 1 fils and Coast Investment Co edged 0.9 fils into red. Securities House dialed down 0.7 fil.

KAMCO and Al Mal Investment fell 0.5 fil each while Bayan Investment Co took in 1.3 fils. Osoul Investment clipped 2 fils and Sokouk Holding was up 4.1 fils at 45.1 fils.

Noor Financial Investment fell 0.5 fil to 46 fils whereas Gulf Insurance Co climbed 20 fils. Aheia Insurance Co slid 54 fils to 486 fils and Wetha Takaful gave up 2.9 fils.

Kuwait Real Estate Co eased 0.3 fil to 48,3 fils and Mabanee Co clipped 2 fils. National Real Estate Co was flat at 123 fils and Tamdeen Investment dipped 21 fils. Salhiya Real Estate took in 1 fil and Mazaya Holding inched 1 fil lower. Dipped The market has been downbeat so far during the week and has dipped 154 pts in last three sessions. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.

In the bourse related news, Shuaiba Industrial’s profits surged 101.4 pct to KD 419,000 during the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to the same period in the previous year. During 2017, the earnings ticked up by 1.6 percent to KD 1.9 million from KD 1.87 million in year before. The board has recommended a cash dividend of 17% or 17 fils per share for FY17.

Kuwait Cement Co has posted a 15.4 pct drop in profits during the fourth quarter of 2017 to KD 4.94 mln from KD 4.28 million last quarter of 2016. During fiscal year 2017, earnings were down 11.8 percent to KD 17.19 million as against KD 19.49 million in the previous fear. The board members have recommended a cash dividend of 20 pct or 20 fils per share for 2017.

Aqar Real Estate Investments’ fourth quarter profits dropped by 14.7 pct from the same period last year to 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 year-ago 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.