KUWAIT CITY, Aug 9: Kuwait stocks sagged Thursday to end week on a sour note. The index dropped 11.92 points to 5,699.36 — nearing a seven and half month low. The trading floor undercurrent was largely bearish owing to weak earnings even as blue chips remained muted. The bourse has slipped 1.19 percent in July.
The KSX 15 benchmark added 5.19 points while the weighted index edged 0.67 points higher to 393.23 points. The volume turnover flat lined as the ongoing Ramadan and the summer lull continued to crimp the volume level. 83.7 million shares changed hands — up a marginal 1.31 percent from the day before and has been holding below the 100 million mark from start of the month.
Sectorwise, the top performer telecommunication climbed 0.43 percent while oil gas saw the steepest fall of 1.43 percent. Volume wise, financial services chalked the highest market contribution of 53.52 percent while real estate came in next with 19.5 percent.
Zain, the market heavyweight, closed flat at KD 0.670 off early lows after posting modest rise in the previous session while Wataniya remains suspended from trading. National Industries Group retreated 2 fils obliterating the gain on Wednesday whereas investment major KIPCO advanced 5 fils on back of 1.54 million shares.
Agility rose 5 fils on back of 0.36 million shares. The company has recently secured a 2-year contract valued at $238 million to offer logistics support for Gorgon natural gas project in Western Australia. Kuwait Gulf Links inched 1 fils lower to 87 fils. The stock has slipped 2 fil during whole of July and has erased 15 fils year-to-date.
Aref Energy Holding fell 2 fils whereas Kuwait Food Co (Americana) shed 40 fils to end at KD 1.300. The firm has posted a 14.6 percent decline in net earnings to KD 25.043 million, compared to KD 29.35 million in the year-earlier period.
Higher
The market opened on tame note and ticked slightly higher in early trade. The index pulled lower thereafter as sentiment turned negative and hit the day’s lowest level of 5,675.34 points past the mid-session. It moved sideways before clawing back some of the losses in the final minutes.
Top gainer of the day, Manafae rallied 10 percent to 55 fils while Kuwait Medical Services Co climbed 9.09 percent to stand next. First Takaful Insurance Co slid over 8 percent — the steepest decliner of the day, while INOVEST topped the volume with 10.53 million shares.
Reflecting the day’s decline, the losers outled the winners. 32 stocks advanced while 50 closed lower. Of the 115 counters active on Thursday, 33 closed flat. 2,049 deals worth KD 9.04 million were transacted — down 19.63 percent in value from the day before.
On the upside, Mabanee Co rallied 20 fils on back of 1.07 million shares while Boubyan Petrochemical Co and Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co gained 10 fils each. Heavy Engineering and Shipbuilding Co added 6 fils to settle at KD 0.188.
In the banking sector National Bank of Kuwait stagnated at KD 0.990 and Gulf Bank followed suit to end at KD 0.400. Commercial Bank jumped 40 fils whereas Ahli United Bank pulled 20 fils lower to KD 0.890. Al Ahli Bank was unchanged at KD 0.650.
Kuwait International Bank added 5 fils and Burgan Bank was up 10 fils at KD 0.475. Moody’s has downgraded the lender’s global local currency (GLC) deposit and foreign currency deposit ratings to A3/Prime-2 from A2/Prime-1. The bank’s standalone bank financial strength rating (BFSR) was affirmed at D+. Boubyan Bank ended flat.
Alafco rose 5 fils and Jazeera Airways was up 10 fils at KD 0.425. The carrier’s Q2 net profit jumped 23.5 percent to KD 2.6 million while operating profit surged 49.2 percent year-on-year to KD 4.2 million. In the first half net earnings climbed 21.6 percent to KD 3.8 million.
Slipped
United Industries Co slipped 3 fils while Contracting and Marine Services Co pulled 4 fils lower. RISCO held the ground unchanged at KD 0.198. The company’s H1 profit spiked 190 percent to KD 1.6 million while the second-quarter profit surged 163.2 percent year-over-year to KD 1.22 million.
Kuwait Pipes edged 2 fils lower and Kuwait Portland Cement Co was flat at KD 0.850. The company has earned KD 4,743,795 and earnings per share of 52.2 fils in the first six months of the year as compared to net profit of KD 1,108,059 and 12.2 fils EPS in the year before.
In the bourse related news, Kuwait National Cinema has registered net profit of KD 3.30 million and earnings per share of 33.11 fils in the first six months of 2012 as against KD 3,453,847 earning and 34.56 fils EPS in the same period last year.
Bayan Investment Co has logged H1 Net Loss of KD 3,948,426 and loss per share of 11.02 fils. This compares with KD 6,365,872 loss and loss per share of 17.81 fils in the 2011 first half.
City Group’s first half earnings soared 150 percent to KD 1.65 million. In the second quarter, the profit stood at KD 742.3 thousand, a 68 percent jump from the year-earlier period.
National Petroleum Services Co has posted a 43.3 percent drop in earnings to KD 907,000 during the H1. In the second-quarter, the profit dropped 41.2 percent year-over-year to KD 514,200.
United Industries Company (UIC), a unit of Kuwait Projects Company Group has incurred a second quarter loss of KD134,116. Company’s net profit for the first half surged KD 2.51 million while earnings per share stood at 5.21 fils per share. Income from associates reached KD 4.96 million while investment in associates was up 5 per cent to KD 152.6 million.
Noor Financial Investment has signed an agreement with Burgan Bank to roll over KD 2.7 million debts maturing in 2018. The investment firm had earlier rescheduled KD 117.5 million debts with Gulf Bank, Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Kuwait Finance House.
Madina For Finance & Investment has inked a final contract with a creditor to repay a debt amounting to AED 25.691.651 through assets in kind. This will accordingly lead to a decline in the company’s debts by KD 1.939.745.
The Capital Market Authority (CMA) earlier in July has announced delisting five of the eight stocks suspended from trading on Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) for more than six months. The delisted companies are The International Investor Co, Al Masar Leasing and Investment Co, A’ayan Leasing and Investment Co, Aref Investment Group, and Grand Real Estate Projects Co.


By John Mathews
Arab Times Staff