Wataniya Telecom Soars 100 Fils; NIG Stagnates

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 23

Kuwait stocks covered more ground Thursday extending the gains to sixth consecutive day. The index climbed 14.76 points in volatile trade led by Wataniya Telecom and buying support in some of the mid-caps. The trading floor sentiment was skittish even as investors weighed the continuing political uncertainty.

The KSX 15 benchmark added 1.5 points while the weighted index edged 0.82 points up to settle at 398.16 pts. The volume turnover ramped up further after surging in the previous session. 299.68 million shares changed hands -- up 5.38 percent from Wednesday and is the highest level in last two months. KSE had eased 1.19 percent in July adding to the decline in previous two months.

Sectorwise, oil gas outperformed the rest with 2.53 percent gain whereas technology slid 1.79 percent to emerge as the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services accounted for the highest market share of 51.20 percent and real estate came in next with 26.82 percent.

Wataniya Telecom surged 100 fils extending its gaining streak as investors continued to pile on the share following Qatar Telecom's offer on Wednesday to buy remaining stake in the Kuwait unit for $2.2 billion. The stock had resumed trading in the bourse on Wednesday after being suspended in last week of June.
Zain, the bourse heavyweight, was up 10 fils on back of 1.74 million shares after stagnating in the day before while Agility rose 5 fils to KD 0.415 with a volume turnover of 2.08 million shares. The logistics major has posted KD 7.82 million in the April-June quarter while earnings per share clocked 7.85 fils.

Among other notable gainers, Combined Group Contracting Co climbed 20 fils to KD 1.260 and Kuwait Foundry Co followed suit to end at KD 0.280. RISCO rose 4 fils while Contracting and Marine Services Co added 10 fils to end at KD 0.124. Ahli United Bank jumped 30 fils to KD 0.910.

Flat
The bourse opened on flat note and moved sideways in early trading. The index slipped below the red thereafter amid profit taking in select counters and hit the day's lowest level of 5,780.31 points. It traced a volatile course in the second half and managed to wind up with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Contracting and Marine Services Co spiked 8.77 percent to 124 fils whereas Kuwait Food and Co climbed 7.69 percent to stand next. Amwal dived 9.09 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, while Gulf Finance House topped the volume with 52.88 million shares.

The market spread as biased towards the gainers. 53 stocks advanced whereas 41 closed lower. Of the 128 counters active on Thursday, 34 closed flat. 4,569 deals worth KD 19.81 million shares were transacted -- a 37.56 percent spurt in value from the previous session.

On the downside, City Group dropped 25 fils to KD 0.465 with thin trading and Automated Systems Co was down by same measure to end at KD 0.430. Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co tumbled 30 fils to KD 0.650 and Kuwait Portland Cement Co pulled 10 fils lower.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait slipped 10 fils to KD 0.990 after trading 2.76 million shares while Gulf Bank was down 5 fils at KD 0.395 after stagnating on Wednesday. Commercial Bank retreated 20 fils. CBK has posted a 5.4-percent drop in Q2 earnings to KD 1.22 million owing to heavy provisioning once again wiped out earnings growth. 

Gained
Al Ahli Bank dropped 20 fils and Kuwait International Bank edged 2 fils lower. Burgan Bank was flat at KD 0.610 whereas Kuwait Finance House added 10 fils to end at KD 0.700. The stock has gained 10 fils from start of the month and is trading 200 fils lower year-to-date. Boubyan Bank pulled 10 fils lower.
Investment major KIPCO closed flat at KD 0.365 whereas National Investment Co ticked 2 fils higher to KD 0.110. The company has posted net profit of KD 2.2 million and earnings per share of 3 fils in the first half of 2012 as compared with KD 3.92 million and 5 fils respectively in year earlier period.

Kuwait Financial Centre Co rose 2 fils and KMEFIC added 2.5 fils. Al Mal gained 2 fils and Bayan Investment Co inched 0.5 fil higher to 34 fils. Al Tamdeen Investment Co closed flat at KD 0.160. National Industries Group held the ground unchanged at KD 0.194 erasing early gains and Kuwait Pipes too stagnated at KD 0.102. The company has registered net loss of KD 2,852,658 and loss per share of 12.66 fils in the first half of 2012 

Qurain Petrochemical Co added 10 fils and Gulf Cables climbed 20 fils to KD 1.080. The company has posted net profit of KD 9,837,065 and earnings per share of 47 fils in the first half as against KD 32,419,728 earnings and 154 fils EPS in the same period last year.

National Real Estate Co climbed 6 fils and Mabanee Co jumped 20 fils. The company has posted a net profit of KD 14.17 million and earning per share of 23.13 fils in the first half of 2012. The bourse was positive during the holiday curtailed 2-day week. The index closed higher in both the sessions and surged 59.83 points week-on-week. It has slid 59.82 points from start of the month and is trading 0.2 percent lower year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Al Madina for Finance and Investment has logged a net loss of KD 614,242 and loss per share of 1.6 fils in the first six months of the year as compared to loss of KD 1,597,043 and 4.16 fils LPS in the same period last year. Noor Financial Investment Co has logged a net profit of KD 1.462.757 and earnings per share of 4 fils in January-June period rebounding from KD 4.899.448 loss and 13 fils loss per share in the same period last year. 

Global Investment House has posted a net loss of KD 20,576,000 and loss per share of 17 fils in the first half, narrowing from KD 38,693,000 and loss per share of 32 fils in 2011 H1. Manafae Investment has slumped KD 301,243 into red in first six months of 2012 while the loss per share chalked 1.60 fils. This compares with net loss of KD 651,870 and loss per share of 3.48 fils in 2011 H1. IFA Hotels and Resorts Co has incurred a net loss of KD 1,805,454 and loss per share of 4.19 fils as compared to KD 5,170,290 earning and 11.99 fils EPS in the same period last year. Humansoft Holding has logged a net profit of KD 1,328,514 and earnings per share of 11.63 fils in H1 as against net profit of KD 425,634 and earnings per share of 3.77 fils in first half of 2011.

© Arab Times 2012