Kuwait bourse plunges 22.49 pts; banks weigh
NBK drops 20 fils; Gulf Cable gains
Firm
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 19: Kuwait stocks sagged on Sunday extending the steep losses in the previous session. The bourse dropped 22.49 pts to 7387.85 points as sentiment remained negative. The decline was led by banks and some of the mid and small caps too ended in red.
The KSX 15 benchmark dived 14.59 points 1,180.99 taking the month’s losses to 23 points while weighted index fell 3.52 points. The volume turnover meanwhile continued to tick higher. 2,77.43 million shares changed hands - a 2.78 pct rise from the previous session.
The sectors closed mixed. Parallel market outshone the rest with 0.35 percent gain whereas consumer services shed 0.81 pct, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, financial services garnered the highest market share of 53.65 pct while real estate and banks trailed far behind with 24.41 percent and 7.29 pct respectively.
Among prominent losers, National Bank of Kuwait dropped 20 fils to KD 0.970 after trading 1.46 million and Kuwait Finance House was down 10 fils at KD 0.820 with a volume of 2.3 million shares. Burgan Bank gave up 10 fils extending an identical fall in the previous session.
Gulf Glass Manufacturing Company slid 40 fils to KD 0.650 and Kuwait Gulf Links Co eased 3 fils. The company has clocked a net loss of KD 1.160 million and loss per share of 4.39 fils in the first six-months of the year as against net loss of KD 866,919 and loss per share of 3.28 fils in the first half of 2013.
Bourse heavyweight Zain slipped 10 fils to KD 0.640 taking the year’s losses to 50 fils whereas Wataniya Telecom held the ground unchanged at KD 1.540. Agility too was flat at KD 0.870 off early lows and the counter saw 1.2 million shares change hands during the session.
The market opened firm and rose higher in early trade. It peaked at 7,447.98 points retreated thereafter as sentiment turned negative turned moved sideways in early trade. The bourse eased gradually and slipped below the red almost half way into the session. It continued to fall amid weak sentiment and hit the day lowest level of 7,371.98 in the final minutes before paring back some of the losses at close.
Top gainer of the day, KMEFIC slid 8.16 percent to 53 fils while Dar Al Thuraya Real Estate Co dropped 5.8 pct to stand next. Arkan Al Kuwait Real Estate Co dipped 7.81 pct, the steepest decliner of the day while Gulf Finance House topped the volume with over 63 million shares.
Mirroring the day’s downswing, the losers outnumbered the gainers. 39 stocks advanced whereas 52 closed lower. Of the 145 counters active on Sunday, 54 closed flat. 5,360 deals worth KD 24.91 million shares were transacted - a 35.99 pct drop in value from the previous session.
Combined Group Contracting Co tumbled 40 fils while Humansoft Holding and Mabanee Co shed 20 fils each. Hilal Cement was down 8 fils and Kuwait Resorts Co followed suit to end at KD 0.124. Jazeera Airways fell 5 fils to KD 0.440 and has erased 55 fils from start of the year.
RISCO slipped 5 fils and Salbookh Trading Co was down by same meas- ure. Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co shed 8 fils and Kuwait Resorts Co followed suit.
National Industries Group gyrated in a tight range before closing unchanged at KD 0.220 and Kuwait Cement Co too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.440. Kuwait Portland Cement and Equipment Holding Co stagnated at KD 1.380 and KD 0.138 respectively.
On the upside, Gulf Cable rose 10 fils and Boubyan Petrochemicals Co followed suit. ALAFCO and Gulf Franchising Holding Co gained 4 fils each while Kuwait Foundry Co added 5 fils to wind up at KD 0.345. IFA Hotels and Resorts closed 6 fils higher. Salhia Real Estate Co gained 20 fils and National Real Estate Company took in 2 fils. The company has signed a KD 154. 40 million contract earlier in the month to restructure its debts with a local bank within 7 years. Tamdeen Real Estate was up 10 fils at KD 0.310.
Securities House took in 2 fils and Al Mal Investment Co inched 1 fils up. The company has won the approval of Capital Markets Authority for a 27.25% increase in authorized capital from KD 52.828 million to KD 67.224 million at a nominal value of 100 fils per share excluding premium.
Fell
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank fell 5 fils to KD 0.345 while Commercial Bank was up 10 fils at KD 0.680 partly recouping the loss in the last session. Al Ahli Bank and Ahli United Bank were unchanged at KD 0.425 and KD 0.650
Kuwait International Bank paused at KD 0.315 and Baoubyan Bank followed suit. The bank has logged a nine-months net profit of KD 20.26 million earnings per share 10.32 fils.
KIPCO fell 10 fils and Commercial Facilities Company was down by same measure. . The company has obtained the approval of Capital Markets Authority to buy back or sell up to a maximum of 10% of its shares for 6 months.
Kuwait Financial Centre climbed 10 fils to KD 0.136 whereas Securities Group erased 4 fils. Osoul Investment Co nudged 2 fils up whereas KFIC clipped 2 fils.
The bourse has been downbeat during last week. It closed lower in four of the five sessions and tanked 237 points week-on-week. It has dived 233 points from start of the month and is trading 2.14 pct lower year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Kuwait Business Town Real Estate has recorded a net profit of KD 823,370 and earnings per share 1.60 fils in the January-September period rebounding from KD 1.918 million net loss and loss per share of 3.72 fils in the first nine months of the 2013.
Kuwait Co for Process Plant Construction and Contracting has won the approval of Capital Markets Authority for the company’s request to buy back or sell up to 10% of own shares over 6 months.
Al Mal Investment has recorded a first half net loss of KD 7.03 million and loss per share of 13.31 fills in the six-month period ending June 31, 2014 as against KD 39,357 net profit and earnings per share of 0.07 fils in the first half of 2013.
United Foodstuff Industries Group has logged a net profit of KD 832,780 and earnings per share of 25.17 fils in the first half of 2014, up sharply from KD 256,570 net profit and earnings per share of 7.75 fils in the first half of 2014.
First Takaful Insurance has incurred a net loss of KD 5.83 million and loss per share of 58.35 fils in the JanuaryJune period as against net profit of KD 104,068 and earnings per share of 1.04 fils in the same period last year.