Combined Group dives 60 fils; Americana flat

KUWAIT CITY, Nov 18

Kuwait stocks retreated sharply Monday after eking modest gains in the day before. The index slid 44.16 pts to 7868.93 pts as investors locked in profits in select counters led by banks. Selling was also seen in some of the mid and low caps even as the trading floor sentiment turned negative.

The KSX-15 benchmark shed 8.98 pts to close at 1,077.62 points taking the month's losses to 24 points while the weighted index fell 2.64 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile receded after rebounding strongly in the previous session. 317.98 million shares changed hands -- a 15.77 pct drop from Sunday. It had hit a multi-month low earlier last week ahead of the CMA deadline for companies to declare their financial results.
The sectors closed mostly in the red. Oil and gas outperformed the rest with 0.38 percent gain whereas basic materials slid 1.59 pct, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, financial services dominated with 41.73 percent market share while real estate and industrials followed with 29.13 percent and 19.57 percent respectively.

Among notable decliners, Combined Group Contracting Co plunged 60 fils to KD 1.260 with thin volumes and Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co slid 40 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co dropped 20 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement followed suit to close at KD 1.360.

Zima Holding Co shed 10 fils and Gulf Cables followed suit to wind up at KD 0.910. ALAFCO fell 5 fils and Kuwait Resorts Co was down 4 fils. Credit Rating ad Collection Co erased 6 fils while National Industries Group gave up 5 fils.

Retreated
Bourse heavyweight Zain retreated 10 fils after clocking over 1.5 million shares whereas Wataniya Telecom bucked the trend to close 20 fils higher and the stock has dived 180 fils so far during the year. Agility slipped 10 fils to KD 0.710.

The market opened flat but headed south in early trading. The index continued to retreat amid profit taking across the board and hit the day's lowest level of 7850.11 points half way into the session. It moved sideways before paring back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, IFA Hotels and Resorts rallied 9.62 percent to KD 0.285 while Contracting and Marine Services Co climbed 5.88 percent to stand next. MENA Real Estate Co dived 8.2 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Gulf Finance House topped the volume with 64.85 million shares.

Reflecting the day's downswing, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 25 stocks advanced whereas 61 closed lower. Of the 139 counters active on Monday, 53 closed flat. 6438 deals worth 27.32 million were transacted -- a 5.55 pct rise in value from the day before.

Equipment Holding Co retreated 4 fils after trading 1.8 million shares and KGL Logistics was down 5 fils at KD 0.275. The company has won the approval of Capital Markets Authority to buy back or sell up to 10% of own shares over a period of 6 months commencing date of approval.

On the upside, The Energy House took in 2 fils to close at KD 0.118 and Kuwait Cement Co was up 5 fils at KD 0.395. The company has earned a net profit of KD 13.09 million and earnings per share of 20.17 fils in the first nine-months of 2013. United Industries Co did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.162.

Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) recouped early losses to close flat at KD 2.520 and Jazeera Airways followed suit to end at KD 0.510. The company has posted a net profit of KD 14.06 million and earnings per share of 33.49 fils in the first nine months of 2013.

Kuwait Gulf Links held steady at KD 0.110 off early lows and Kuwait Cable Vision Co too did not budge from its earlier close. The company has incurred a net loss of KD 284,136 and loss per share of 9.47 fils in the January-September period of 2013.

Flat
Kuwait Foundry Co shed 15 fils whereas International Petroleum Group closed flat. The company has posted a net profit of KD 4.35 million in the first nine months of 2013 while earnings per share came in at 30.10 fils.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait rose 10 fils to KD 0.910 and Gulf Bank stagnated at KD 0.390. Commercial Bank of Kuwait slumped 40 fils to KD 0.710 whereas Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session.

Ahli United Bank held the ground steady at KD 0.730 and Kuwait International Bank gave up 5 fils. The lender has posted a net profit of KD 9.29 million and earnings per share of 9.95 fils in the January-September period.

Burgan Bank and Kuwait Finance House fell 10 fils each to KD 0.540 and KD 0.900 respectively and Boubyan Bank too followed suit to close at KD 0.540 erasing the gains in the day before.

International Financial Advisors closed flat and National Investment Co followed suit and KIPCO too stagnated at KD 0.610. Bayan Investment eased 2 fils and Osoul Investment erased 3 fils. Al Deera Holding Co ticked 1 fils lower and Noor Financial Investment closed flat.

Salhia Real Estate slid 15 fils whereas National Real Estate Co was unchanged and KD 0.154. Mabanee Co slid 20 fils extending the losses in the previous session. Al Mazaya Holding eased 4 fils after trading 2.53 million shares and Real Estate Trade Centre Co ticked 2 fils lower.

The bourse has been mixed so far during the week and has shed 35 points in last two sessions. The index has slid 78 points from start of the month and is trading over 33 percent higher year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Kuwait National Cinema has notched a net profit of KD 6.13 million earnings per share of 61.74 fils in the nine-month period ending September 2013, soaring from KD 4.73 million profit and earnings per share of 47.43 fils in the 9M period of 2012.

Refrigeration Ind. and Storage has posted a net profit of KD 2.50 million and clocked an earnings per share of 28.25 fils in the nine month period ending September 30, 2013. This compares with KD 2.24 million profit and earnings per share of 25.39 fils in the same period last year.

Gulf Glass Manufacturing has notched a net profit of KD 1.71 million and earnings per share of 40.54 fils in the January-September period , down from KD 2,19 million profit and earnings per share of 54.44 fils in the same period last year.

Warba Bank announced has logged a net loss of KD 3.12 million in the nine-month period ending Sept 30, 2013 and chalked a loss per share of 3.12 fils as against KD 2.06 net loss and and loss per share of 2.07 fils in the same period last year.

© Arab Times 2013