Bahrain Bourse bounced back in July

This is the last part of Kamco Invest’s GCC Markets Monthly Report. — Editor

The monthly stock performance chart was topped with Qatar Navigation with a gain of 25.7% followed by the Ooredoo and Qatar Islamic Bank with gains of 21.2% and 18.3%, respectively. Net Profit for the Ooredoo stood at QAR 1.5 Bn up 43% from the first half of 2021 driven by the higher revenues that reached QAR 11.0 Bn, an increase of 4.0% compared to the previous year. On the decliners side, Qatar General Insurance & Reinsurance topped with a decline of 7.4% followed by Qatar German for Medical Devices and Widam Food Company with declines of 4.8% and 4.4%, respectively. Trading activity on the exchange continued to slide for the fourth consecutive month reaching the lowest in twelve months. Total volume of shares traded during the month declined by 22.2% to 2.6 Bn shares as compared to 4.0 Bn shares during June 2022. Value traded witnessed a steeper decline of 47.7% to reach QAR 8.04 Bn during July-2022 as compared to QAR 15.4 Bn during June2022. Qatar Aluminum Manufacturing topped the monthly volume traded chart with 466.8 Mn traded shares followed by Baladna Company and Estithmar Holding at 262.2 Mn shares and 252.3 Mn shares, respectively. On the value traded chart, QNB topped with QAR 1.14 Bn worth of trades during the month followed by Qatar Aluminum Manufacturing and Masraf Al Rayan at QAR 749.2 Mn and QAR 682.5 Mn, respectively.

Increase

Bahrain Bourse bounced back registering an increase of 3.6% during July-2022 to close the month at 1,905.52 points after witnessing a decline for the three consecutive month until June-2022. The gains during July-2022 supported YTD-2022 gains for the aggregate benchmark to reach 6.0%. For the third consecutive month the Materials sector reported the biggest monthly decline registering a fall of 7.3% followed by Communications Services index and Real Estate index with declines of 3.2% and 2.2%, respectively. The Financial index recorded the only monthly gain among the sectors with a gain of 6.9%. In terms of YTD -2022 performance, the Materials Index topped with a gain of 33.9% while the Communication Services index showed the biggest decline of 18%. The monthly stock performance chart was topped by Ahli United Bank with a 15.6% monthly return followed by GFH Financial Group and Al-Salam Bank Bahrain with gains of 6.2% and 2.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, the monthly decliner’s list was led by Solidarity Bahrain (-8.2%) followed by Aluminum Bahrain (-7.3%) and Bahrain Cinema (-6.8%). Trading activity on the exchange declined during July-2022 with volumes declining by 26.6% to reach 35.3 Mn shares as compared to 48.1 Mn shares during June-2022. Total value traded on the exchange, on the other hand, increased by 31.2% to reach BHD 15.3 Mn in July2022 as compared to BHD 11.7 Mn during June-2022. GFH Financial Group topped the monthly volumes chart with 10.3 Mn traded shares followed by Al Salam Bank Bahrain and Aluminum Bahrain which saw 9.2 Mn and 7.2 Mn of their shares change hands during the month, respectively. On the monthly value traded chart, Ahli United Bank topped this list with BHD 6.3 Mn worth of shares changing hands during the month, followed by GFH Financial Group and Aluminum Bahrain which saw BHD 3 Mn and BHD 1.8 Mn values of their shares traded, respectively. In economic news, Bahrain’s economic activity is set for moderate rebound in 2022 giving the country’s fiscal and external positions an improvement. According to the latest IMF review, Bahrain’s GDP growth is expected to stabilize at 3% in 2022. Renewed fiscal reform combined with gradual ongoing post-Covid recovery are mitigating Bahrain’s fiscal and external weaknesses, according to the IMF. Bahrain is also currently undergoing economic reforms with the intention of reviving economic growth. The Bahraini government recently announced that the Tourism Sector is one such vital sector for the revival of the Kingdom’s economy and hence a national priority for development. Moreover, Bahraini national product exports increased by 43% to reach USD 3.6 Bn in Q2-2022 underlining the Kingdom’s economic growth. Saudi Arabia topped the table of Bahrain’s export destinations in Q2-2022 importing BHD 245 Mn (USD 650 Mn) followed by the USA with BHD 206 Mn (USD 546.4) and the UAE which imported BHD 112 Mn (USD 297.1 Mn). In terms of products exported, aircraft engine parts were the largest re-exported product from Bahrain with BHD 29 Mn (USD 76.9 Mn). In terms of imports China topped the table as Bahrain imported goods worth of BHD 234 Mn (620.6 Mn) from China followed by Brazil with BHD 171 Mn (USD 453.6 Mn). Furthermore, business confidence in Bahrain has witnessed 2.8% rise during Q2-2022, according to government officials.

Oman’s MSX30 index continued its gaining streak for the second consecutive month during July-2022. MSX30 index increased 9.9%, the largest growth among the GCC indices, to close the month at 4,532.1 points. In terms of sectoral performance, both the Services and the Financial indices increased during the month by 5.8% and 10.0% to close at 1,658.1 and 7275.0 points, respectively. The Industrial index showed the only decline falling 0.9% to close the month at 5,707.5 points. In terms of company performance, Al Batinah Development topped the monthly gainers table recording 17.8% increase in share prices. Oman Chlorine Co was next with a gain of 31.4% followed by Galfar Engineering and Oman Refreshment with 28.4% and 23.2% increases in their respective share prices during the month. Galfar Engineering recently won an OMR 73 Mn (USD 190 Mn) contract to construct a dual carriageway project in Duqm. The contract has a duration of 36 months and was awarded by the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones. On the other hand, Al Jazeera Steel Products posted the largest share price slide during the month witnessing 14.4% share fall followed Dhofar International Holding and Oman Refreshment Company for the second and third spot on the decliners table recording 11.5% and 10% share fall, respectively, during July-2022. Monthly trading activity on the exchange remained mixed during the month, similar to the previous month. Total volume of shares traded during

July-2022 dropped 13.4% to reach 219.9 Mn shares as compared to 254.0 Mn shares during June-2022. Monthly value traded, on the other hand, witnessed an increase of 4.0% to reach OMR 53.0 Mn. Galfar Engineering topped the monthly volume traded chart registering 36.4 Mn of shares traded, followed by Bank Muscat and Bank Nizwa with 27.9 Mn and 22.5 Mn in trades during the month. Bank Muscat topped the value traded chart witnessing OMR 15.3 Mn of its shares changing hands during July-2022 followed

by OmanTel and Galfar Engineering with OMR 6.5 Mn and OMR 4.2 Mn in trades, respectively. In terms of investor participation, the value of shares bought by Non-Omani investors increased by 12.8% to reach OMR 7 Mn during the month. Comparatively, the value of shares sold by Non-Omani investors rose 19.2% reaching OMR 11 Mn. The volume of shares and the value of shares bought by Omani individuals and institutions reached 88.6% and 87.2% of total volume and value of shares bought in the exchange respectively, during July-2022. On the other hand, the volume and value of shares sold by Omani individuals and institutions reached 84.6% and 80.8% respectively during the month. In

economic news, Oman recently completed voluntary debt buyback transactions totaling USD 701 Mn across Eurobonds maturing between 2025 and 2032. This debt buyback would save up to USD 232 Mn, according to official calculations. Global ratings agency S&P opined that it believes that recent liability management exercise would help reduce the Sultanate’s government debt levels. The Sultanate’s financial covers have benefited from the high oil prices and fiscal governance reforms. Oman’s government is expected to reach fiscal surplus of 6.5% of GDP in 2022 as compared to deficits averaging 10% of GDP over 2015-2021.