Kuwait market winds up in green; volume jumps

Al Ahli Bank gains 12 fils; Ooredoo dips

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 18: Kuwait stocks pulled higher on Thursday to end the week on a firm footing. The bourse climbed 36.08 points in a flattish session to 6639.38 points after a brief early dip helped by select counters even as the blue chips diverged.

The KSX 15 benchmark ticked 0.19 pts higher to 966.69 points and weighted index edged 0.64 pts up to 418 points. The volume turnover meanwhile swelled after the twoday pull back. 152.6 million shares changed hands — a 29 pct sure from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in green turf. Telecommunications outshone the rest with 0.67 pct gain whereas parallel market slid 2 percent, the steepest decliner of the day. Volume wise, banks accounted for the highest market share of 24.3 pct and real estate followed with 23.6 pct contribution

Among prominent gainers, Al Ahli Bank jumped 12 fils to 317 fils and KIPCO was up 4 fils at 309 fils on back of over 1 million shares. Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) rose 6 fils to 115 fils and Gulf Insurance Co leapt 70 fils.

Zain eased 1 fil to 497 fils after trading over 2 million shares and Ooredoo tumbled 27 fils to KD 1.100 . Kuwait Telecommunications Co fell 2 fils to 776 fils and Agility climbed 6 fils to 896 fils.

Flat

National Bank slipped 4 fils to 773 fils and Kuwait International Bank closed flat. The bank registered a net profit of KD 13.5 million for the third quarter earnings per share reached 14.42 fils. The bank’s investment portfolio rose 18 pct to KD 84 million.

The market opened weak and slipped into red in early trade. The main index plumbed the day’s lowest level of 6,595 pts and rebounded quickly before trading flat well past the mid-session. It revved up in the final minutes to close with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Kuwait Cable Vision Co soared 20 pct to 21.6 fils and Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co rallied 19.4 pct to stand close behind. First Takaful Insurance slid 12 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Ithmaar Bank topped the volume with 20.7 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s upswing, the market spread was skewed towards the winners. 62 stocks advanced whereas 37 closed lower. Of the 125 counters active on Thursday, 26 closed flat. 5,518 deals worth kd 19.8 million were transacted — over 46 pct surge in value from the day before

National Industries Group eased 1 fil to 161 fils with a volume of 1.2 million shares and Gulf Cables fell 5 fils to 452 fils. Heavy Engineering ticked 1 fil higher while Metal and Recycling Co gave up 4.9 fils. Equipment Holding dialed up 0.3 fil.

Kuwait Foundry Co fell 5 fils to 223 fils and Kuwait National Cinema Co dipped 21 fils to KD 1.109. Boubyan Petrochemical Co slipped 3 fils to 737 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co trimmed 1 fil. KPPC took in 1 fil to wind up at 55.5 fils.

Automated Systems Co paused at 140 fils and Independent Petroleum Group too did not budge from its earlier close of 450 fils. IPG has clocked a 1 pct rise in third quarter profits to KD 1.445 million from the same period last year. In 9M the earnings jumped 28.2 pct to KD 5.058 m.

Humansoft Holding and KCPC were unchanged at KD 3.800 and 150 fils respectively whereas Combined Group Contracting Co clipped 1 fil.

KGL Logistics climbed 5.3 fils and ALAFCO followed suit to end at 380 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank rose 3 fils to 241 fils on back of 3.6 million shares and Commercial Bank of Kuwait held ground at 400 fils. AlMutahed dialed up 1 fil to end at 350 fils.

Kuwait Finance House slipped 4 fils to 600 fils after trading 3.3 million shares and Boubyan Bank took in 2 fils. Warba Bank inched fils higher to 225 fils and Burgan Bank followed suit.

Higher

Kuwait Investment Co rose 3 fils to 123 fils and International Financial Advisors inched 0.1 fil higher. Coast Investment Co dialed up 0.7 fil ad Securities House Co closed 0.9 fil higher at 57.8 fils. Al Mal Investment Co gave up 0.4 fil.

KMEFIC clipped 1.1 fils whereas Bayan investment Co and Osoul Investment Co paused at 47.8 fils and 50 fils respectively. Al Deera Holding fell 1.5 fils and Sokouk Holding erased 0.6 fil to close at 52.4 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co and KFIC were unchanged at 58.7 fils and 45.2 fils respectively while Tamdeen Investment Co gained 5 fils. Al Imtiaz trimmed 1 fils and Kuwait Insurance Co jumped 14 fils to 279 fils. Wethaq Tafaful was up 1.5 fils at 40.5 fils.

National Real Estate Co inched 1 fil up to 125 fils and Kuwait Real Estate Co gave up 0.7 fil. Mazaya Holding was flat at 113 fils and National Real Estate Co took in 1 fil.

Mabanee Co added 3 fils. The company’s profits dropped 1.6 percent to KD 12.1 million in the third quarter of 2017 from Q3 of 2016. In the first

nine months of the year, profits rose marginally by 0.74 percent to KD 36.7 million.

The bourse has been largely positive during the week. The main index closed higher in three of the five sessions and gained 79 points week-onweek. It has rallied 231 pts from start of the month after adding 11.8 percent during whole of 2017. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Gulf Bank of Kuwait’s total shareholders’ equity stood at KD 591.2 million by the end of September 2017. The net revenue from interest totaled KD 97.2 mln in January - September period while operating profits stood at KD 89.7 million.

Warba Insurance Company posted a loss of KD 3.1 million during the second quarter ended on 30 June 2017 as compared to profits of KD 2.2 million in the 2nd quarter of 2016. The loss per share stood at 19.12 fils in Q2 of 2017 abd current assets shrank by 10.1% to KD 43.54 million by the end of the second quarter.

Zain’s third quarter earnings dropped 7 percent to nearly KD 40 million , compared to KD 43 million for the same period last year. Revenues amounted to KD 259 million and EBITDA stood at KD 104 million. In the 9M period, profits slipped by 1.6 pct to KD 122 million.

Mashaer Holding incurred a losses of KD 597,180 in the third quarter of 2017, as compared to KD 503,400 profit in the year ago period. In the first nine-months the company suffered losses of KD 19,280 as against KD 584,800 profits in the same period in 2016 and is attributed to a provision of tax claim valued at KD 1.03 million.