Kuwait stock index ends in red as volume shrinks

KIPCO sheds 15 fils; NBK gains

KUWAIT CITY, April 16: Kuwait stocks pulled lower on Sunday as it kicked off the week on a dour note. The bourse dipped 38.71 points in volatile trade to 6,969.18 pts weighed by selling in select counters. Most of the banking shares shone whereas other heavyweights remained subdued.

The KSX 15 benchmark rose 3.24 points to 946.28 pts taking the month’s gains to 12 points and weighted index was little changed at 416.42 points. The volume turnover meanwhile receded following Thursday’s rebound. 326.30 million shares changed hands — a 14.8 pct fall from last session.

The sectors closed mostly in the red. Technology outshone the rest with 0.90 percent gain whereas telecommunications slid 1.62 pct, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, real estate clocked 45.5 pct market share and financial services trailed with 30.7 percent contribution.

In the individual shares, KIPCO dropped 15 fils to 410 fils taking the month’s losses to 85 fils while National Investment Co was down 8 fils after trading 1.4 million shares. Gulf Bank gave up 5 fils to settle at 255 fils and Boubyan Bank followed suit to end at 415 fils.

Zain fell 5 fils to 465 fils whereas Ooredoo stood pat at KD 1.140 with thin trading. Kuwait Telecommunications Co shed 10 fils and Agility was unchanged at 640 fils off early highs.

Sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait climbed 10 fils to 690 fils on back of over 2 million shares after the bank reported strong first quarter profits and Kuwait Finance House followed suit to end at 540 fils.

The market opened firm and slipped into red in early trade. The main index drifted sideways briefly before dipping further amid weak sentiment to plumb the day’s lowest level of 6,960.69 pts. It rebounded thereafter but retreated again to wind up with moderate losses.

Top gainer of the day. Marakez rallied 10 pct to 55 fils while Massaleh climbed 8.4 percent to stand next. Tijara slid 8 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Taamer topped the volume with over 29 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s downswing, the losers vastly outnumbered the winners. 21 stocks advanced whereas 67 closed lower. Of the 128 counters active on Sunday, 40 closed flat. 7,502 deals worth KD 28.4 million were transacted — a 17.8 pct drop in value from the previous session.

National Industries Group slipped 4 fils to 124 fils and Gulf Cable was down 10 fils at 465 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co gave up early gains to close flat at 226 fils and Contracting and Marine Services Co too did not budge from its earlier close of 60 fils.

Jazeera Airways was unchanged at 570 fils off early lows while ALAFCO added 5 fils to close at 255 fils. Metal and Recycling Co paused at 78 fils with thin trading and Boubyan Petrochemical Co followed suit. Al Qurain Petrochemical Co too held ground at 340 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co dropped 10 fils to 310 fils whereas Kuwait Cement Co and Kuwait Portland Cement Co stood pat at 520 fils and 990 fils respectively. Kuwait National Cinema Co stagnated at KD 1.500.

Gained

Automated Systems Co rose 10 fils and Napesco gained 20 fils. The company has posted a 93.2 pct yearon-year rise in profits in fourth quarter to KD 1.99 mln while in 2016 the profit was up 35.6 pct to KD 7.71 mln.

Equipment Holding Co fell 2 fils to 61 fils and KCPC followed suit to wind up at 168 fils. Combined Group Contracting Co closed flat and AWJ Holding dialed down 2 fils to close at 90 fils.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co inched 1 fil into red and KGL Logitsics Co clipped 2 fils. Zimah Holding Co eased 1 fil and Yiaco was down 10 fils at 210 fils. Humansoft Holding shed 20 fils and Mezzan Holding jumped 30 fils to KD 1.020.

Burgan Bank was unchanged at 340 fils off early highs and Al Ahli Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 315 fils. Commercial Bank was not traded during the session.

Coast Investment Co and Securities Group Co were flat at 51 fils and 99 fils respectively whereas Securities House Co clipped 2 fils. Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) paused at 104 fils and KMEFIC took in 0.5 fil.

Bayan Investment Co and Osoul Investment Co eased 1 fil each while Unicap stagnated at 49 fils. Al Mal gave up 1 fil and Aayan followed with brisk trading of 2.4 million shares.

KAMCO and KFIC dialed up 1 fil each whereas Sokouk Holding fell 2 fils. Noor Financial Investment Co and Al Madina were both lower 1 fil at 54 fils and 52 fils respectively.

National Real Estate Co and Eresco tripped 2 fils each while Mabanee Co stood pat at 830 fils. Kuwait Real Estate Co was up 1fils at 67 fils on back of over 2 million shares and Mazaya Holding clipped 2 fils.

Kuwait International Bank added 5 fils on back of 6.8 million shares and Ahli United Bank recouped last session’s losses with 5 fils rise to 455 fils, Warba Bank held ground at 255 fils with a volume of 1.9 million.

The market was mixed during last week. The main index closed lower in three of the five sessions and shed 21.24 points week-on-week. It has shed 50 points from start of the month and is trading 21.9 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 percent or 8 fils per share.

Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co’s fourth quarter net profit dipped o 64 percent 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 percent 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 percent 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 percent of capital.