ARAB TIMES, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014
BUSINESS
45
Daman Investments plans Dubai listing in Q1 2015
Daman Investments, a United Arab
Emirates investment management
firm, said on Monday it planned to list
on the Dubai Financial Market during
the first quarter of 2015 to expand its
business and fund new opportunities
at home and the wider region.
The company is the latest in the
Gulf Arab state to announce plans to
go public, joining a wave of firms eyeing a stock market listing after a long
fallow period for flotations.
Dubai-based Daman will sell new
shares equivalent to 55 percent of the
firm to the public, a statement said.
Chairman Shehab Gargash told
Reuters Daman had a number of
potential plans for the cash, including
launching a fund, investing in a private
equity venture and upgrading its internal infrastructure.
The price at which shares would be
sold was being discussed with the
regulator and figures on the company’s recent revenue and profit would
be published once the talks concluded, Gargash said.
Daman - founded in 1998 - is
backed by investors from the UAE
and the wider Gulf region. Existing
shareholders will be diluted to 45
percent, although they could boost
their holdings by investing in the
offering.
Retail-focused investment firm
Marka and Emaar Malls Group listed
within a week of each other after
hugely oversubscribed initial public
offerings, while Amanat Holdings’
flotation is already covered by
investor orders ahead of its closing on
Tuesday. (RTRS)
KSE slides as volume
hits multi-month low
Burgan Bank drops 10 fils; Zain gains
By John Mathews
Arab Times Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Nov 3:
Kuwait stocks pulled sharply
lower Monday extending the
losses to third straight session.
The bourse, after a tame start,
dived 40.92 pts lower to
7,318.99 points weighed by
banks. Some of mid and small
caps too sagged amid weak
sentiment.
The KSX 15 benchmark inched 0.5
pct higher to 1,173.28 points taking the
year’s gains to 121 points while
weighted index fell 1.16 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile receded further to hit a multi-month low. 105.28
million shares changed hands — a 15
percent drop from the day before.
The sectors closed mostly in red.
Telecommunications outpaced the rest
with 0.67 percent gain whereas oil and
gas shed 1.12 pct, the biggest loser of the
day. In terms of volume, financial services continued to dominate with 48.94 pct
market share while real estate and banks
followed with 18.06 pct and 11.98 percent respectively.
Among notable losers, Burgan Bank
dropped 10 fils to KD 0.530 after trading
3.16 million shares and Commercial
Bank of Kuwait was down 10 fils erasing the gains on Sunday.
Humansoft Holding Co dived 25 fils
and Al Kout Industrial Projects Co slid
30 fils to KD 0.520. Kuwait Foundry Co
shed 20 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts
Co gave up 10 fils to end at KD 0.208.
Warba Insurance Co was down 6 fils at
KD 0.124.
Zain, the bourse heavyweight, rose 10
fils to KD 0.640 on back of 1.96 million
shares whereas Wataniya Telecom was
unchanged at KD 1.540. Agility was too
was up 10 fils at KD 0.880 recouping the
losses on Sunday and is trading 190 fils
higher year-to-date.
Lower
The market opened firm but edged
lower in early trade. The index moved
sideways past the mid-session as sentiment turned brittle dropped further amid
selling in select counters. It hit the day’s
lowest level of 7,304.78 pts in the final
minutes before paring back some of the
losses at close.
Top gainer of the day, AFAQ
Educational Services Co jumped 6.17
percent to 172 fils whereas Specialties
Group Holding (SPEC) climbed 5.33
percent to stand next. Pearl of Kuwait
Real Estate Co tumbled 10 percent, the
steepest decliner of the day, while Gulf
Finance House topped the volume with
14.3 million shares.
Reflecting the day’s decline, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 22 stocks advanced whereas 68
closed lower. Of the 144 counters active
on Monday, 54 closed flat. 2,667 deals
worth KD 14.9 million were transacted
— a slight 0.03 percent fall from the ay
before.
ALAFCO clipped 2 fils to close at KD
0.248 and Jazeera Airways was down 5
fils at KD 0.430.
The company has logged a net profit
of KD 12.95 million and earnings per
share of 30.84 fils in the nine-month
period ending Sept 30, 2014.
PetroGulf fell 3 fils to 90 fils after
trading 1.25 million shares whereas
Gulf Franchising Holding Co eased 5
fils to 70 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Links
flunked 1 fils and KGL Logistics Co
edged 2 fils lower to KD 0.120.
Equipment Holding Co gave up 4 fils
to end at KD 0.128.
National Industries Group was flat at
Photo by Anwar Daifallah
Photo shows investors at KSE trading floor. The bourse closed lower on
Monday.
KD 0.214 and Gulf Cable too did not
budge from its earlier close of KD 0.770.
Kuwait Portland Cement Co stagnated at
KD 1.380 and United Industries Co followed
suit.
Combined
Group
Contracting Co paused at KD 0.810.
Salhia Real Estate slipped 10 fils
whereas Al-Mazaya Holding closed flat.
The company has clocked a net profit of
KD 5.66 million and earnings per share
of 9.14 fils in the January-September
period as against KD 826,529 net profit
and earnings per share of 1.33 fils in the
first nine months of 2013.
National Real Estate Co dropped 4 fils
after trading 2.58 million shares and
International Resorts Co ticked 2 fils
lower. Arkan Al Kuwait Real Estate Co
dipped 8 fils whereas Mabanee Co
closed flat at KD 1.040.
Upside
On the upside, City Group rose 20 fils
to KD 0.435 and Qurain Petrochemical
Industries Co ticked 2 fils up to settle at
KD 0.220. ACICO Industries Co added
5 fils and Tamdeen Real Estate Co
gained 20 fils extending an identical rise
in previous session.
In the banking sector, National Bank
of Kuwait was flat at KD 0.980 with a
volume of 2.44 million while Gulf Bank
eased 5 fils to settle at KD 0.335. Ahli
United Bank dropped 10 fils to KD
0.650 whereas Al Ahli Bank was
unchanged at KD 0.440. Kuwait
International Bank paused at KD 0.310
off early lows.
Kuwait Finance House gave up slight
early gains to close flat at KD 0.780 and
Boubyan Bank too held the ground
steady at KD 0.510. FH has won the
approval of Central Bank of Kuwait to
extend the approval to buy back or sell
up to a maximum of 10 percent of its
issued shares for 6 months as of the end
of the current approval.
Kuwait Investment Co fell 4 fils and
National Investment Co was down by
same measure to wind up at KD 0.168.
Securities Group dropped 6 fils whereas
KIPCO was unchanged at KD 0.700.
KMEFIC and First Investment Co
clipped 2 fils each whereas Osoul
Investment took in 2 fils.
The bourse has been weak so far during the week and is down 43 points in
last two sessions. The main index had
plunged 260 points during whole of
October and is trading 3.05 pct lower
year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the
region.
In the bourse related news, Aayan
Real Estate eased 3 fils. The company
has registered a net profit of KD 2.58
million and earnings per share of 6.5 fils
in the January-September period as soaring from net profit of KD 1.77 million
and earnings per share of 4.5 fils in the
first nine months of 2013.
First Dubai For Real Estate
Development has logged a net profit of
KD 1.86 million and earnings per share
of 1.87 fils in the nine-month period ending Sept 30, 2014 as against KD 1,812
profit and earnings per share of 1.81 fils
in the same period last year.
Boubyan International Industries
Holding has incurred a net loss of KD
3.871 million and loss per share of 12.91
fils in the year ending August 31, 2014,
narrowing from a net loss of KD 5.96
million loss per share of 19.89 fils in the
previous year.
Kuwait Building Materials Mfg has
recorded a net profit of KD 491,332 and
earnings per share of 16.2 fils in the first
nine months of 2014 as compared to KD
408,953 profit and earnings per share of
13.5 fils in the same period of 2013.
Alsalam Group Holding has posted a
net profit of KD 2.733 million and earnings per share of 10.65 fils in the ninemonths period ending September 30,
2014 as compared to KD 162,640 profit
and earnings per share of 0.63 fils in the
same period of 2013.
Quarterly revenue totals 559 mln riyals
Vodafone Qatar Q2 net loss narrows
DOHA/DUBAI, Nov 3, (RTRS):
Vodafone Qatar expects to turn profitable
next year, its chief financial officer said
on Monday after it reported a narrower
loss for the second quarter.
Vodafone Qatar, an affiliate of British
mobile phone operator Vodafone Group,
ended state-controlled Ooredoo’s domestic
monopoly in 2009 and has been steadily
reducing its quarterly losses as it attracts
more subscribers and lifts revenue. “We
expect to make a profit at some point next
year,” chief financial officer Steve Walters
told a news conference to accompany its
second-quarter results.
The operator’s financial year starts on
April 1.
Vodafone Qatar made a net loss of 53.5
million riyals ($14.69 million) in the
three months to Sept. 30, according to
Reuters calculations based on company
statements.
That compares with a loss of 75 million riyals in the year-ago period.
It was, though, still well above forecasts by two analysts polled by Reuters,
who expected a second-quarter loss of
between 21.6 million riyals and 30.6 million riyals.
Quarterly revenue was 559 million
riyals, up from 465 million riyals a year
ago, according to Reuters calculations.
Vodafone Qatar — 23 percent owned
by parent Vodafone and 22 percent by a
Qatar government-linked fund — made a
loss of 80.96 million riyals in the six
months to Sept. 30, according to a company statement. That compares with a
loss of 159.88 million riyals in the prioryear period.
The company had 1.37 million mobile
subscribers as of Sept. 30, up 16 percent
from a year ago.
In October, Vodafone Qatar said it had
agreed to buy state-owned Qatar National
Broadband Network (QNBN), which
began rolling out a fibre network across
all of the country in 2012 and expects to
complete construction within three years.
“We are still in the early stages of the
deal and it will take a number of weeks
(of) talks,” chief executive Kyle
Whitehill told the news conference.
Vodafone Qatar will buy all QNBN’s 21
million shares, pending regulatory
approvals. These shares have a par value of
10 Qatar riyals ($2.75) each, but Vodafone
Qatar has not said whether it will pay this
or a different price and Whitehill declined
to reveal the value of the deal.