DUBAI- Kuwait's Shamal Az-Zour Al-Oula Power and Water Company made its stock market debut on Sunday.

At 0845 GMT, the shares were trading at 0.388 dinar ($1.27) per share, below their opening price of 0.4 dinar, and after briefly rising to as high as 0.5 dinar, according to Refinitiv data.

The company, Kuwait's first listed public private partnership (PPP), supplies about 10% of Kuwait's installed power capacity and 20% of water desalination capacity in the country.

Kuwait's PPP law requires 50% of a PPP to be held by local investors before listing and they can then trade them on the market after listing.

Last year Shamal Az-Zour sold 50% of its shares to Kuwaiti investors at 0.1 dinar per share, the company said.

The other 50% stake is held by North One Holding Company - a consortium comprised of Engie, Sumitomo Corporation , A.H. Al Sagar & Brothers - which owns 40%, and the Kuwait Investment Authority and Public Institution for Social Security which each have a 5% stake.

Shamal Az-Zour's board on Aug. 6 recommended a cash dividend payout of 0.025 dinar per share, subject to lenders and shareholders' approval. It will be the company's first dividend, related to retained earnings between 2017 and 2019.

Kuwait's benchmark stock index .BKP was up 1.35% on Sunday afternoon.

($1 = 0.3057 Kuwaiti dinars)

(Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by Susan Fenton) ((Yousef.Saba@thomsonreuters.com; +971562166204))