Kuwait bourse ends week with downtick

Gulf Glass dives 50 fils; Americana soars

KUWAIT CITY, July 2

Kuwait stocks sagged on Thursday to end the week on dull note. The price index slipped 5.66 pts in lackluster trade to 6,181.89 pts weighed by some of the banks while telecom major headed north. The sentiment remained cautiously negative as investors kept an eye on the developments following the Greece debt default. The KSX 15 benchmark inched 0.64 pts up to 1,018.06 pts and is trading 43 points lower year-to-date while weighted index eased 0.2 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile bounced modestly helped by speculative trading in some of the mid and small caps. 81.10 million shares changed hands -- a 13.64 pct drop from Wednesday. The sectors closed mixed during the session.

Consumer goods outshone the rest with 1.15 pct gain whereas basic materials shed 1.59 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services clocked the highest market share of 53.48 pct while industrials and real estate trailed far behind with 16.36 pct and 11.90 percent contributed respectively. Among the individual shares, Gulf Cable slid 30 fils and Boubyan Petrochemicals Co was down by same measure to end at KD 0.590. Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co dived 50 fils and ACICO Industries shed 20 fils to close at KD 0.300. Bourse heavyweight Zain was flat at KD 0.420 off early lows and Wataniya Telecom gained 20 fils with thin trading. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) paused at KD 0.950 after vacillating in tight range whereas Agility pulled 10 fils lower.

Slipped

Sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait slipped 10 fils to KD 0.850 and Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait gave up 5 fils to settle at KD 0.365. The bank has won the approval of Central Bank of Kuwait to extend its approval to buy back or sell a maximum of 10 percent of its shares for 6 months ending on Dec 10, 2015. The market opened weak and moved sideways in early trade. The main gauge continued to drift listlessly as sentiment turned fickle and hit the day's lowest level of 6,167.9 pts past the mid-session. It however pared back most of the losses in the final minutes and closed slightly in red. Top gainer of the day, Livestock Transport and Trading Co spiked 9.26 pct to 118 fils while YIACO rallied 8.2 percent to stand next. Securities Group Co dipped 8.33 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, and Gulf Investment House topped the volume with 7.28 million shares. Reflecting the day's downtick, the losers outnumbered the winners. 38 stocks advanced whereas 41 closed lower.

Of the 138 counters active on Thursday, 59 closed flat. 2,107 deals worth KD 9.76 million were transacted -- a 3.9 pct drop in value from the day before. National Industries Group was unchanged at KD 0.162 after trading 3.7 million shares while RISCO closed 5 fils higher. Kuwait Portland Cement gained 20 fils and Shuaiba Industrial Co slipped 5 fils. Kuwait Foundry Co held steady off early highs at KD 0.260. Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co clipped 2 fils whereas Educational Holding Group took in 2 fils to close at KD 0.206. The company has posted net profit of KD 4.62 million and earnings per share of 18.9 fils in nine months ended May 31, 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 3.26 million and earnings per share of 13.4 fils in the same period last year. The recently listed Mezzan Holding Co was unchanged at KD 1.020 and Kuwait National Cinema Co followed suit.

The company has received the permission of Capital Markets Authority to its request to buy back or sell up to 10 percent of own shares over a period of 6 months. On the upside, Kuwait Food Co (Americana) soared 80 fils to KD 2.780 and Humansoft Holding Co gained 20 fils. Zima Holding Co rose 5 fils and Safwan Trading and Contracting Co followed suit. Jazeera Airways dialed down 5 fils to end at KD 0.465 and ALAFCO was muted at KD 0.218. The Energy House paused at 65 fils. Investment major KIPCO was flat at KD 0.640 and National Investment Co too did not move in either direction. Commercial Facilities Co added 6 fils whereas Securities House Co closed 3 fils lower. Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) gave up 4 fils to wind up at KD 0.106.

Paused

Bayan Investment inched 0.5 fils up and Sokouk Holding Co paused at 54 fils. The company has been granted the permission by Capital Markets Authority to buy back or sell up to 10 percent of own shares over a period of 6 months. In the banking sector, Gulf Bank and Commercial Bank stagnated at KD 0.270 and KD 0.630 respectively and Ahli United Bank held steady at KD 0.560. Kuwait International Bank nudged 2 fils up. Kuwait Finance House rose 10 fils to KD 0.640 and Burgan Bank was flat at KD 0.425 off early lows. Boubyan Bank paused at KD 0.430 after eking slight gains in the last session. The bourse trended mostly lower during the week. The key index closed lower in four of the five sessions and slid 30 points week-on-week. It had shed 90 points during whole of June and is trading 5.32 pct lower year-todate.

KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region. In the bourse related news, Boubyan Petrochemicals Co has won the approval of Capital Markets Authority to buy back or sell a maximum of 10 percent of its shares for 6 months. Aqar Real Estate Investments Co has got the nod of Capital Markets Authority for its request to buy back or sell up to 10 percent of own shares over a period of 6 months. Privatization Holding Co has received the approval of Capital Markets Authority for its request to buy back or sell up to 10 percent of own shares over a period of 6 months. Gulf Insurance Group (GIG) has registered a net profit of KD 3.7 million or 20.86 fils per share, for the financial period ended March 31, 2015 -- an increase of 22.8 percent from the same period last year. Shareholder equity grew 3.7 pct to KD 82.5 million.

Tamdeen Investment Co has recorded 18.5 pct rise in its earnings of the first quarter of 2015. It stood at KD 7.25 million compared to KD 6.12 million in the Q1 of 2014 while earnings per share came in at 25.75 fils. Sokouk Holding has clocked a net profit of KD 5.012 million and earnings per share of 9 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2014 and the Board of Directors recommended 5 percent bonus shares. Kuwait Foundry Co has logged a net profit of KD 2.26 million and earnings per share of 14.74 fils in the first ninemonths of 2014, as against KD 2.13 million profit and earnings per share of 13.9 fils in the 9M of 2013. Warba Bank has recorded a net profit of KD 115,000 and earnings per share of 0.12 fils in 2014, rebounding from net loss of KD 3.709 million and loss per share of 3.71 fils in 2013.