Jordan Times
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Amman Stock Exchange AMMAN — The index of the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) edged down by 0.15 per cent last week despite positive semi-annual results announced by many companies.
Weekly Analysis
The index finished the week at 5,673.60 points and market capitalisation declined by 0.28 per cent to JD22.03 billion.
Only the indices of the banking and insurance sectors recorded gains during the week, increasing by 0.25 per cent and 0.01 per cent respectively. The diversified financial sector was the biggest loser by 2.88 per cent amidst low trading volumes.
As for trading activity, 62.2 million shares exchanged hands while the average daily trading value increased by 39.5 per cent to reach JD46.6 million. Overall, decliners outnumbered advancers as 104 companies out of 188 declined, while 62 advanced.
In terms of value traded by sector, the banking sector came in first place accounting for 40 per cent of the total value traded followed by the real estate sector at 20.1 per cent. The diversified financial services sector came third at 14.1 per cent of the value traded for this week.
The most actively traded shares last week were those of Future Arab Investment Company, Tameer Jordan and Middle East Complex with a combined value traded of JD22.15 million accounting for 11.9 per cent of the week’s total value traded.
Several block deals were executed, the most, significant were on shares of Tameer Jordan, International Arabian Development and Investment Trading and Jordan Loan Guarantee Corp with transaction values of JD2.35 million, JD1.51 million and JD1.05 million respectively.
According to the Department of Statistics, the increase of the general industrial price index slowed to 9.4 per cent in the first half of 2007 as compared with the same period of 2006.
The International Monetary Fund released a report stating that Jordan’s real gross domestic product grew by 6 per cent in the first quarter of this year, supported by buoyant domestic demand and large foreign direct investment.
The fund also announced that average inflation declined to 6.3 per cent in June (year-on-year), reflecting mainly a drop in the prices of meat and vegetables, while core inflation remained well contained at 2 per cent.
Net profit of Arab Bank Group increased by 10.1 per cent to $370.4 million in the first half of 2007. The bank’s total assets grew to $35.7 billion. The share price of Arab Bank closed at JD20.92, down by 0.1 per cent whilst trading at a forward P/E multiple of 14.18x.
The Housing Bank for Trade and Finance reported a net pretax profit of JD72.1 million for the first half of this year, a rise of 15 per cent compared to the same period last year. The bank’s share price went up by 0.83 per cent closing at JD6.05.
Jordan Telecom Group achieved 10.6 per cent growth in net profit reaching JD46.7 million for the first half of this year, compared to JD42.1, million in the same period of 2006. The share price of the company ended the week at JD4.19, down by 2.56 per cent.
Jordan Phosphate Mining Company reported a net profit after tax of JD13.98 million for the first half of this year, compared to JD6.28 million during the same period last year, representing a growth of 120 per cent. The company’s share price dropped by 2.3 per cent to close at JD5.52.
Net profit of Arab Potash Company increased by 635 per cent in the first half of this year to JD97.9 million, compared to JD13.3 million during the same period last year. The share price closed at JD15.1 up by 1.34 per cent.