BUSINESSARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JULY 22, 2019

21

Kuwait’s bourse kicks off week with decline

KFH slips 11 fi ls, KAMCO gainsBy Cinatra Alvares

Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, July 21: Ku-wait stocks retreat into red at the start of the week with most sectors continuing the downward trend from the previous week. The All Shares index slid 62.15 points lower to 6,062.48 points, posting a 1.01% contraction at the ses-sion’s close.

The Premier Market plunged 82.43 points lower to stand at 6,664.31 points while the Main Market dropped 20.39 points to 4,880.46 points. The number of trades stood at 4,387 with a volume of 157.57 million shares exchanged for a value of KD 10.62 million. The bourse dipped low in early trade and strained to skim higher, extending losses in the fi nal hour.

IFA Hotels and Resorts Company led the pack of gainers with a 32% rise to 64.3 fils, up by 15.9 points and having traded a volume of 129,862 shares as a positive response to the shareholders approval to offset the company’s accumulated losses. KAMCO Investment Company fol-lowed with a 10% surge to a 89.1 fils close, up by 8.1 points. Amar for Finance and Leasing Company closed at 27.6 fils after a 9.96% increase in price and Marakez post-ing a 8.68% increase to 28.8 fils. Al Deera Holding Company, for its part, made a 4.13% rise to 12.6 fils.

Hilal Cement Company took a 22.88% nose dive to 91 fils, marking a 27 point downturn to become the big-gest loser of the day. Aayan Leasing and Investment Company and Shuaiba Industrial company fell 9.81% and 9.70% respectively to 52.4 fils and 149 fils. Ras Al Khaimah for White Cement slipped 7.35% into the red doe a 63 fils close while the Energy House Co faced a 6.12% contraction for a 23 fils close.

Aayan Leasing and Investment Company moved the top volume of shares for the day with a KD 3.3 million traded over 60.29 million of its shares. IFA Hotels and Resorts Company and Ahli United Bank also traded robust portions of over 10 million shares each.

The Banking sector closed with red indices across the board at 1415 points marking a 1% downturn from previous close after 32.25 million in volume traded and a KD 14.6 million turnover. National Bank of Kuwait dropped three points to a 1.002 KD share price with a volume of 2.5 million traded for a KD 2.5 million turnover.

Gulf Bank shed 2 points for a 313 fils close, down 0.63% having traded 3.19 million shares for a KD 1 million turn-over. Kuwait International Bank also skimmed 3 points lower to 275 fils with a 1.08% drop after a 1.38 million shares traded. Burgan Bank slid 3 points down to 350 fils while Kuwait Finance House plunged 11 points lower to a 770 fils close.

Warba Bank traded over 1 million shares on the floor, closing with a 1.54% fall to 255 fils.

Telecommunications Sector retract-ed 1.05% to 1,053.47 points. Mobile Telecommunications (ZAIN) account-ed for almost half of the total volume of stocks traded in the sector today, clos-ing 1.37% lower in the red at a 574 fils share price. National Mobile Telecommunications Co (Ooredoo)

KIB logs KD 1.88 bn profit from real estate

Kuwait International Bank(KIB) announced on Saturday that its net profits of the first half of 2019 reached about KD 1.88 billion (USD 5.9 billion) from the real estate market.

In its report on the Kuwaiti real estate market, the bank said that the index of the number of transac-tions registered in the market for the same period rose by 19 per-cent year on year to reach 3539 transactions compared to 2973 transactions recorded during the

first half of 2018.The improvement in the market

performance was mainly support-ed by the residential and commer-cial sectors.

Residential sales for the first half of 2019 rose by 24 percent year-on-year to reach KD 790 million (USD 2.6 billion).

The report pointed out that the index of the number of transac-tions in the residential sector rose by 21 percent year on year to reach 2421 transactions and

the sales of the commercial sec-tor for the same period and on an annual basis by about 25 percent to KD 300 million (USD 990 mil-lion).

The sales of the investment sec-tor fell by 18 percent in the first half of 2019 due to the relatively weak performance recorded in the first quarter of this year, pointing out that the investment sector record-ed sales levels similar to those recorded in the second quarter of the year 2018. (KUNA)

Danske pretax profi t down 13 percent

Dubai slips on property shares

Nordea to review targets after tough Q2

Tanker incident hits Saudi

HELSINKI/COPENHAGEN, July 21, (RTRS): Nordea, the biggest bank in the Nordics, said it would review its fi nancial targets in coming months, as the region’s lenders struggle with weak growth at home and rising com-pliance costs from money laundering scandals overseas.

Nordic banks have reported weak quarterly results across the board against the backdrop of low interest rates and tough competition.

Danish peer Danske Bank’s quar-terly pre-tax profi t also missed expec-tations on Thursday, hurt by low rates and higher costs associated with com-pliance following a money-laundering scandal at its Estonian bank.

It reported a 15.4% rise in costs from a year earlier, which it said was mainly down to investing in more staff and technology to deal with the Esto-nia case.

Nordea’s net profi t fell 11% from a year earlier to 681 million euros ($765 million) in its second quarter ended June 30, missing analysts’ average expectation of 739 million euros in a poll.

Net interest income, the bank’s most important income line, fell 4% to 1.07

billion euros due to fi erce competi-tion in mortgages and household loans across the region.

Jefferies analysts said the second quarter result “suggests downgrades to consensus led by net interest income”.

Nordea shares were down 6.6% at 1003 GMT, pulling other Nordic banks lower, with SEB, Swedbank and Han-delsbanken all down more than 1%. Danske shares dipped 0.9%, having already fallen sharply after the bank gave preliminary data on its earnings on July 8.

“As our performance is not satis-factory, further actions are needed to strengthen the fi nancial results,” Nor-dea Chief Executive Offi cer Casper von Koskull said in a statement, with-out elaborating.

The bank said it planned to present new fi nancial targets, including the capital and dividend policies, after third-quarter results.

Earlier this week, peer Swedbank slashed its dividend payout policy to 50% from 75%, aiming to strengthen its capital amid fallout from a Baltic money laundering scandal.

Nordea cited internal reasons such as lowering its risk level and concen-

trating on Nordic markets as well as external factors for the target revamp.

“Financial environments have also changed with expected lower rates for longer, and we will soon have more clarity on our capital requirements within the banking union,” Nordea said.

Nordea has retaken its position as the Nordic region’s biggest bank by market capitalisation after Norway’s DNB briefl y took the crown in June and July. Nordea’s market capitalisa-tion at Wednesday’s close was 26.82 billion euros, while DNB was at 25.79 billion.

Danske Bank, whose shares have dropped more than 40% over the last year, said it expected to have to add to its capital reserves as Denmark’s fi nancial watchdog is investigating a case where retail clients had been overcharged fees in relation to an in-vestment product.

“Overall Danske’s core franchise continues to come under pressure whilst the overhang of regulatory investigations persists, with higher capital requirements a potential added headwind today,” KBW analysts said in a research note.

DUBAI, July 21, (RTRS): Saudi Arabia’s stock index declined on Sunday, as political concerns weighed on investors after Iran’s seizure of a British-fl agged tanker in the Gulf. Britain called Iran’s ac-tion against the Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday a “hos-tile act”. “Markets are following the negative global lead as geopolitical risks take centre stage following the UK tanker seizure,” said Vrajesh Bhandari, senior portfolio manager at Al Mal Capital in Dubai. Saudi shares shed 0.8%, with fi nancial stocks seeing heavy losses ahead of an expected interest rate cut this month by the US Federal Re-serve. Saudi British Bank (SABB) was down 2.2%, Arab National Bank was down 1.7%, National Commercial Bank was down 1.1%, and Saudi Investment Bank was down 0.6%. Other Gulf markets were mixed. In Kuwait, profi t tak-ing sent the index down 1.2%. “Ku-wait is the best performing MENA market this year so far,up almost 20%, and so it is not surprising that some investors are taking profi ts,” said Bhandari. “We believe the market would continue to be well supported(up to its)... inclusion in the MSCI EM Index in mid-2020.” Ahli United Bank was down 2.5%, Kuwait Finance House was down 1.4%, and Kuwait International Bank was down 1.1%. In Dubai the index was 0.9% lower, dragged down by the real estate sector. Construction fi rm Arabtec lost 2.3%, DAMAC Properties 2%, and Emaar Development 1.6%. Dubai is in a real estate downturn that has seen prices fall by more than a quarter from a peak in mid-2014, hurting earnings of the emirate’s top developers and forcing con-struction and engineering fi rms to

cut jobs and halt expansion plans. In Abu Dhabi, the index climbed 0.3%, lifted by heavyweight First Abu Dhabi Bank, which was up 1%. The lender, the largest in the UAE, last week rose 4% after posting a 5% increase in second-quarter net profi t. FAB gave a boost to the sec-tor, with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank gaining 0.8%and 0.6% respec-tively. Egypt’s blue-chip index lost 0.7%, weighed down by real estate. Cairo Investment and Real Estate Development tumbled 4.2% and Orascom Development dropped 2.9%.

Saudi Arabia ■ The index dropped 0.8% to

8,958 points

Abu Dhabi ■ The index gained 0.3% to

5,235 points

Dubai ■ The index lost 0.9% to 2,739

points

Qatar ■ The index was fl at at 10,501

points

Egypt ■ The index was down 0.7% to

13,576 points

Bahrain ■ The index slid 0.2% to 1,534

points

Oman ■ The index was up 0.6% to

3,771 points

Kuwait*■ The index declined 1.2% to

6,664 points

slipped 1 point lower to 654 fils while Kuwait Telecommunications Co (Viva) climbed two points to an 802 fils close, in lower trade. Aan Digital Services Co slid 0.20 points to 12.70 fils at the end of the session.

Oil & Gas Sector Index dipped 0.44% lower to 1,165.62 points. Gulf Petroleum Investment managed a 0.87% price hike to 23.2 fils while The Energy House Co curved in 6.12% lower to 23 fils at close.

Financial Services Sector also closed in the red at 1,047.66 points, 1.09% lower than Thursday after a volume of 124 million shares traded for a KD 9.13 million turnover.

Aayan Leasing and Investment made up 51.5% of the total stock traded in the sector, opening at 57.5 fils to close at 52.10 fils. Al Imtiaz Investment Group knock off 2 points in its share price for a 142 fils close after a KD 1.39 million turnover on the floor. National Industries Group Holding stood at 236 fils in the red, with a 2.88% reduction in price and Al Salam Group Holding took a 1.44% slip to 41 fils. Kuwait and Middle East Financial Investment lunged 3.15% into the red with a 43 fils close. Meanwhile, KAMCO Investment, Amar for Finance and Leasing, Gulf Investment House, Manazel Holding, Bayan Investment, National International Holding, Kuwait Syrian Holding, Inovest and Commercial Facilities Company closed with gains in share price.

Meanwhile, International Financial Advisors, AL Aman Investment and Gulf North Africa Holding flat at 23 fils, 60.5 fils and 56.8 fils respectively.

The Real Estate Sector closed at 960.20 points after a 1.17% fall. Abyaar Real Estate Development slipped to a 14.7 fils share price with a 4.55% slash while Kuwait Real Estate enjoyed a slight 0.40 point upswing to finish at 77.4 fils. Mashaer holding Co closed at 70.10 fils in the red and Investors Holding Group also slipped 0.10 points under for a 10 fils close.

The Industrials Sector saw a 1.78% downturn to 936.48 points. Human Soft Holding dropped 141 points to KD 3.260.

Agility Public Warehousing shed 14 points for a 791 fils close while Combined Group Contracting Co fin-ished in the red with a 4.86% reduction in price to 235 fils.

Basic Materials Sector stood at 1,116.20 points, losing 0.36% during the session. Qurain Petrochemical Industries slid 3 points down to 352 fils. Kuwait Foundry trekked 1 point upward to a 258 fils close while Boubyan Petrochemical skimmed 1 point lower to 900 fils.

Consumer Goods gained 3.02 points to finish at 778.93 points a 0.39% upswing and Consumer Services Sector moved up to 983.42 points with a 1.56% upturn while the Insurance Sector Index fell to 918.73 points with a 1.05% cut.