Mobily, the kingdom’s most traded stock yesterday, tumbled 7.4% to 31.30 riyals, its lowest close since mid-2009.

Reuters/Dubai


Major Gulf stock markets edged up yesterday after Sunday’s sell-off but Saudi Arabia lagged because telecommunications operator Mobily tumbled following yet another negative earnings restatement.
The main Saudi index edged up 0.2%, having dropped 3.2% in the previous session. Petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries was the main support, rising 1.3% after falling 3.9% on Sunday in response to a fresh drop in oil prices.
Another heavyweight, Saudi Arabian Mining (Ma’aden), jumped 3.5% and almost fully recovered from Sunday’s sharp decline.
But Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), the kingdom’s most traded stock yesterday, tumbled 7.4% to 31.30 riyals, its lowest close since mid-2009.
The stock opened 10% lower at 30.50 riyals, its lowest since mid-2009, although it then pared its losses after a few minutes to stand 3.0% down.
Mobily last week restated results for 2013-14 and the first quarter of 2015, slashing total profits over the period by nearly 1.76bn riyals ($470mn) in its latest attempt to resolve an accounting scandal.
The firm, whose shares had been suspended since June, also posted a net loss of 900.9mn riyals for the second quarter of this year.
Mobily’s latest results were unaudited, however, and they did not appear to clear up uncertainty about the company among many investors. Some analysts covering the stock have suspended their performance and fair value estimates for Mobily pending the release of detailed and audited financial statements.
“We are keeping Mobily under review until the release of the audited financials, to get a clear picture of the company’s financial situation,” NBK Capital wrote.
Other Gulf markets did slightly better although none of them fully recovered Sunday’s losses as oil prices continued to fall on Monday.
Dubai’s index edged up 0.4% and Emaar Properties, the emirate’s biggest listed developer, was the most traded stock, rising 1.3%.
The company posted a 16% increase in second-quarter profit to 1.18 dirhams ($321mn) on Sunday. SICO Bahrain had forecast Emaar’s quarterly profit would be 817mn dirhams and Naaem brokerage had expected 1.09bn dirhams.
Islamic mortgage lender Amlak Finance, the second most traded stock, slipped 0.5% to 2.14 dirhams after tumbling 8.5% in the previous session.
Abu Dhabi’s index edged up 0.6% and Aldar Properties, that emirate’s top developer, climbed 1.5% ahead of its earnings announcement today.
Egypt’s bourse fell 0.9% and, according to bourse data, most selling pressure came from Arab retail investors.
But Emaar Misr, the local unit of Dubai’s Emaar Properties, which had slipped early in the session after announcing the departure of two senior executives, turned around and edged up 0.3% to 3.43 pounds.
Monday was the last day when investors who took part in Emaar Misr’s June initial public offer could place orders to sell the shares back to the firm at the offer price of 3.80 pounds, an arbitrage opportunity given the market price.
After trading closed, the stock exchange said investors sought to sell back 487.3mn shares, or more than 80% of those placed in the IPO. But since Emaar Misr has allocated only 15% of total IPO proceeds towards the buyback, orders will be filled only partially.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Kuwait’s index slipped 0.4% to 6,213 points; Oman’s index fell 0.9% to 6,499 points, while Bahrain’s index slipped 0.1% to 1,329 points.