Operating company shares may see upward mobility
KUWAIT: Operating company shares are anticipated to see upward mobility in December, buoyed by individual and corporate purchases targeting higher price levels by the end of the year, according to economists. The operating stocks of leading companies listed on the stock exchange have made considerable gains over the first nine months of this year, two economists told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on Monday. Dealers are always keen on stepping up their purchase orders for the shares of banks, consumer services and logistics in December of every year in the hope of year-end closures with good returns, Sorooh Holding Company Board Member Suleiman Al-Wugayyan told KUNA.
The mobility of deals at the stock exchange during the first nine months of 2022 is due to a set of technic factors that have culminated in growing trading, primarily speculations in “cheap stocks” and profit-taking involving selected stocks, he said. Wugayyan predicted this high demand for operating shares to continue during December, given year-end closure for many banks and service companies.
For his part, Kuwait Dealers Association Chairman Mohammad Al-Tarrah believed that December trading would be in the interest of corporate shares that made better financial results during the first nine months of this year than the same period last year. Predicting rising main indexes during the last quarter of 2022, Al-Tarrah said that trading in the reporting period mostly went to the banking sector thanks to “flexible orders” from financial portfolios and some investment funds that prefer speculation-free stocks.
He cited 11 bourse-listed banks’ profits of KD 270.7 million (around $881.3 million) during the third quarter of this year ending on September 30 as a clear-cut paradigm in this regard, reflecting an expected rise with year-end closure. Some 148 listed companies, making up 94.3 percent of a total of 157, have already disclosed their financial findings for the first nine months of this year, making combined net profits of KD 1.643 billion (around $4.9 billion), down 39.8 percent, compared to the same period last year.
In another development, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) announced Monday new CBK bonds and related tawarruq valued at KD 240 million (roughly $792 million). The new securities bear a maturity term of six months and a return rate of 4.25 percent, according to a CBK statement received by KUNA. Last Monday, CBK issued bonds and tawarruq worth KD 240 million (about $792 million) with a three-month maturity term and a return rate of 4.125 percent. – KUNA
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