Kuwait

Boursa Kuwait’s stock surges on its trading debut – Has privatization been a success?

Boursa Kuwait Securities Company has surged more than 10 times since it debuted on the Kuwait Premier Market index on September 14th when it became only the third stock exchange in the MENA region to be listed after the Dubai Financial Market and Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Share prices rose as high as 1,210 fils and closed the day at 1,055 fils after being priced at 100 fils during the IPO last year. As part of the IPO, 50% of...

Kuwait Retail Sector Positioned for Significant Growth

Kuwait’s retail sector is small in absolute terms when compared to regional peers like the UAE or Saudi Arabia. However, Kuwait has one of the highest concentrations of international retailers in the GCC, with the luxury segment proving to be a major draw. The value of Kuwait’s retail market was KD 3.5bn or 9.1% of non-oil GDP, as of February 2018 (Oxford Business Group). These figures are expected to grow even further as consumers have shown an increased preference for...

Kuwait Blue Chip Companies – Banks Outperform on Regulatory Reforms

Kuwait Blue Chip Companies – Banks Outperform on Regulatory Reforms. Kuwait’s GDP growth returned to positive territory in 2018, with higher input from its non-oil sectors, increased government investment to boost growth and improvement in the oil prices. Reforms to the capital markets and banking sectors attracted further inflows into the economy. The year 2018 has been an eventful one for Kuwait capital markets with the opening up of the banking industry being the latest in a series of measures...

Oil Price may not be the trigger for reforms

This article was originally published in Al Qabas Analyzing the historical trend of reforms in Kuwait, one can notice that financial services sector is the most regulated and therefore have experienced more reforms while sectors like healthcare and legal saw the least number of reforms. For a balanced and sustained economic growth, an even distribution of reforms across all critical sectors is a must. A popular coffee table discussion in Kuwait is to ask “when will serious reforms come to...

The Impact of VAT on Key Kuwaiti Sectors

This article was originally published in Kuwait Times. Decrease in oil prices have led the member countries of GCC in search for alternative means of revenue. One way was to introduce a common tax called Value Added Tax (VAT) in the region. On July 09, 2017 two members of GCC, Saudi Arabia and UAE ratified the VAT framework agreement for the introduction of VAT in the region. With a tax rate of 5%, it will be applicable in the entire...

Kuwait Projects: KWD 10bn Awarded – Where is the trickle-down effect?

According to Marmore’s recently published report on Kuwait Projects, in 2015, Kuwait awarded projects worth KWD 10bn, an increase of 20% compared to 2014. The aggregate value of projects awarded during 2014 and 2015 was KWD 18bn. However, this is yet to impact positively on key areas of the economy. Projects Impact Indicator Source: Marmore; * World Bank estimates, **As per IIF, 2015 nominal GDP of Kuwait - USD 121.1bn As of Q1 2016, there are 420 ongoing projects in...

Kuwait Economic Themes & Investment Implications 2016

Acording to Marmore’s Kuwait economic themes report, Kuwait continues to be extremely reliant on oil for revenues. On an average, hydrocarbon revenues accounted for c.80% of overall revenues in the past five year period (2009-2014). While part of the oil revenue is saved as sovereign wealth fund, most is channelled to the local economy in the form of wages for public sector employees, large scale subsidies (energy, electricity and water), capital transfers and generous grants for its citizens.     ...

All-Time Highs – Kuwait 15 Index Stocks

Instead of analyzing the index we are going to  analyze performance on a stock level and measure the divergence from the recorded all-time highs (ATH) of the respective stocks since fundamentally sound stocks (good top and bottom line growth, sound management etc.) consistently establish new ATH’s reflecting growth and opportunities. While stagnant companies may struggle to re-conquer their ATH’s and can thus test investor patience (Japan for e.g.). Looking at Kuwait 15 Index constituents, the only positive news comes from...