Kuwait treads water; volume turnover drops
NBK sheds 20 fils; Zain slips
By John Mathews as investors toed caution before drifting lower to plumb the day lowest level of 5,762.33 pts past the midsession . It however pared back most of the losses at close.
Top gainer of the day, Kuwait Medical Services Co soared 11.36 pct to 910 fils and Ras Al Khaimah White Cement Co climbed 7.84 pct to stand next. Qurain Holding Co dived 7.14 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Investors Holding Co topped the volume with 22.54 million shares.
The market spread was slightly skewed towards the losers. 46 stocks advanced whereas 50 closed lower. Of the 138 counters active on Tuesday, 42 closed flat. 3,143 deals worth over KD 14 million were transacted — a 33.23 percent drop in value from the day before.
National Industries Group, the flagship company of the Kharafi Group, was unchanged at KD 0.148 and RISCO too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.320. Gulf Cable rose 5 fils to KD 0.410 and Shuaiba Industrial Co gained 10 fils. Ahli United Bank fell 5 fils to KD 0.380 and Ahli United Bank paused at KD 0.550. Kuwait International Bank gave up 2 fils to end at KD 0.230.
Burgan Bank slipped 5 fils to KD 0.395 and Boubyan Bank was steady at KD 0.435. Ithmaar Bank inched 0.5 fils up and Warba Bank closed flat.
Investment major KIPCO dropped 10 fils to KD 0.610 trimming higher gains and saw a volume of over 1 million while National Investment Co took in 2 fils. Kuwait Investment Co closed flat and Bayan Investment Co followed suit.
Osoul Investment Co added 0.5 fils and Securities House Co paused at 52 fils. Noor Financial Investment dialed down 2 fils and Mabanee Co closed flat. Mazaya Holding was up 2 fils at 112 fils.
The bourse has been largely positive so far during the week and has added 17 points in last three sessions. It has gained 12 pts so far during the month and is trading 11.61 pct lower year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Kuwait Cement Company has recorded a net profit of KD 16.30 million and earnings per share of 22.86 fils in the first nine-months of 2015 up from net profit of KD 14,07 million and earnings per share of 19.74 fils in the year before period.
Abyaar Real Estate Development Co has registered a net profit of KD 6,103 and earnings per share of 0.01 fils for the nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2015 down sharply from net profit of KD 487,234 and earnings per share of 0.44 fils in the same period of 2014.
Warba Bank has recorded a net profit of KD 1.25 million and earnings per share 1.25 fils in the first ninemonths of the year as compared to net profit of KD 318,000 and earnings per share of 0.32 fils in the 9M of 2014.
Securities Group Company has recorded a net profit of KD 2.47 million and earnings per share of 9.69 fils in the six-month period ending Sept 30, 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 2.57 million and earnings per share of 10.09 fils in the year before period.
Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co has posted a net profit of KD 6.61 million and earnings per share of 6.31 fils in the nine-month period ending Sept 30, 2015 as against net profit of KD 14.76 and earnings per share of 14.03 fils in the year before period.