Kuwait price index ends higher in ‘choppy’ trade

Humansoft Holding jumps 100 fils; KFH slips

KUWAIT CITY, April 12: Kuwait stocks headed north on Wednesday extending last session’s modest gains. The bourse rose 12.34 pts in choppy trade to 7042.12 points even as the broader trend remained mixed. The banks closed mostly in red while other heavyweights diverged.

The KXX 15 dropped 5.99 pts to 853.32 points while weighted index edged 1.73 pts to 420.28 points. The volume turnover meanwhile slipped further to plumb month’s lowest mark. 272.79 million shares changed hands — a 3.7 pct drop from Tuesday.

The sectors closed mixed. Parallel market outshone the rest 1.29 pct gain whereas banks shed 0.53 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, real estate garnered the highest market share of 38.4 percent while financial services was close behind with 38 pct contribution.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait dropped 10 fils to 690 fils with a volume of over 2 million shares and Kuwait Finance House too reversed Tuesday’s gains with 10 fils dip. Humansoft Holding extended its winning streak with a 100 fils jump.

Zain climbed 10 fils on back of 4.8 million shares to 475 fils while Ooredoo gained 20 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) was unchanged at 910 fils off early lows and Agility too did not budge from its earlier close of 650 fils.

Gulf Bank was up 5 fils at 260 fils whereas Commercial Bank gave up 5 fils to settle at 435 fils. The bank’s Q4 earnings rose 10.8 pct year-on-year to KD 22.91 million.

The market opened weak and headed north in early trade. The main index seesawed around the opening mark amid sentiment and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 7016.5 pts almost half way into the session. It pulled up thereafter and peaked at 7044.13 points before giving up some of the gains at close.

Top gainer of the day, Gulf Finance Co jumped 8.62 pct to 63 fils and Ajwan climbed 7.2 percent to stand next. Nafais slumped 11 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Taameer topped the volume with over 31 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s uptick, the winners slightly outnumbered the losers. 40 stocks advanced whereas 38 closed lower. Of the 128 counters active on Wednesday, 50 closed flat. 5412 deals worth KD 26.6 million were transacted — a 26 pct rise in value from the day before.

National Industries Group was unchanged at 128 fils whereas Gulf Cable dropped 15 fils to 475 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co took in 2 fils while Contracting and Marine Services Co closed flat. Combined Group Contracting Co paused at 510 fils.

Jazeera Airways climbed 10 fils to 580 fils whereas ALAFCO was unchanged at 250 fils. Kuwait Portland Cement Co dipped 10 fils while Equipment Holding and Al Qurain Petrochemical stood pat at 61 fils and 335 fils respectively.

Tanked

Kuwait National Cinema Co tanked 100 fils to KD 1.400 whereas ACICO Industries and Shuaiba Paper Industries were up 5 fils each at 295 fils and 445 fils respectively.

Independent Petroleum Group climbed 15 fils to 420 fils and Automated Systems Co dipped 10 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co was down 10 fils at 570 fils.

Burgan Well Drilling Co inched 1 fils lower and Napesco closed flat. The company has posted a 93.2 pct rise in Q4 profits to KD 1.99 mln while in 2016 it logged profits of KD 7.71 m, up 35.6% from last year.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co was unchanged at 65 fils and KGL Logistics Co inched 1 fils into green on back of over 2 million shares. Jeeran Holding and OSOS dialed up 2 fils each.

Mezzan Holding and Zimah Holding were unchanged at KD 1.000 and 58 fils respectively whereas Yiaco was down 10 fils at 230 fils. KPPC held ground at 53 fils and Al Rai Media Group rose 4 fils to 176 fils.

In the banking sector, Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait fell 5 fils to 320 fils and Ahli United Bank followed suit. Burgan Bank stood pat at 345 fils and is up 15 fils so far during the month.

Kuwait International Bank slipped 5 fils to 260 fils while Boubyan Bank was unchanged at 415 fils. Warba Bank was down 5 fils at 260 fils.

KIPCO dropped 20 fils to 435 fils after trading over 2 million shares while Coast Investment Co and Securities Group Co were flat at 52 fils and 99 fils respectively. Securities House Co inched 1 fils into red.

KAMCO rose 3 fils to 91 fils whereas Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) dipped 8 fils. KMEFIC eased 1.5 fils to 32.5 fils and Bayan Investment Co inched 1 fils higher. Aayan was flat at 50 fils with brisk trading and Noor Financial Investment Co closed flat.

Sokouk Holding dialed up 0.5 fils to close at 49 fils while Al Madina stagnated at 54 fils. Al Deera Holding clipped 0.5 fils and Al Mal gave up 1 fils to settle at 21.5 fils.

Kuwait Real Estate Co and National Real Estate Co were flat at 66 fils and 106 fils respectively and Mazaya Holding too did not budge from its earlier close of 120 fls.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has climbed 12 points in last four sessions. It has added 12 points start of the month and is trading 22.5 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 208 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Al Mazaya Holding net profits soared 31.7 pct to KD 2.59 million in last quarter of 2016 while profits rose 10 pct to KD 10.25 million during the fiscal year of 2016. The board has recommended an annual cash dividend of 8% or 8 fils per share.

Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co’s fourth quarter net profit dipped o 64% in KD 14,000 from KD 39,000 in same period last year. During the fiscal year of 2016, profits was down 48 percent to KD 1.21 million from KD 2.34 mln in the previous year.

Al Mowasat Health Care has posted KD 1.8 million profits during the fourth quarter of 2016 and for the fiscal year of 2016, earnings rose 35.3 pct to KD 4.52 million from the year before. The board of directors has recommended a dividend payout of 20% or 20 fils per share.

Injazzat Real Estate Development has posted a net profit of KD 550,000 in the last quarter of 2016 and during the fiscal year of 2016, the bank earned KD 3.2 million. The board has recommended a cash dividend of 5% or 5 fils per share for FY 2016.

Ajial Real Estate Entertainment Company (AREEC) net losses narrowed by 22.7 pct to KD 888,620 from KD 1.15 million in Q4 of 2115. The annual profits in 2016 clocked KD 1.5 million and the board has recommended the distribution of cash dividends at 5% of capital.