Jordan Times
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Amman Stock Exchange
AMMAN - As the month drew to a close, prices of shares listed on the Amman Stock Exchange continued their downward trend for the second week in a row, pressured by brokerage houses demanding investors to close out margin accounts.
The index finished last week at 5,605.64 points, down by 0.67 per cent. Market capitalisation dropped to JD21.85 billion, a 0.36 per cent decline for the week.
Diversified financial services was the only sector to record gains last week as its index rose by 0.93 per cent. Insurance was the biggest loser as the sector’s index fell by 1.58 per cent by the end of the week amidst low trading volumes.
As for trading activity, 67.893 million shares exchanged hands, while the average daily trading value increased by 8.2 per cent to JD27.98 million. Overall, decliners outnumbered advancers as 106 companies out of 182 declined, while 59 advanced.
In terms of value traded by sector, the diversified financial services came in first place accounting for 28.4 per cent of the total value traded followed by the real estate sector for 21 per cent and then the service sector which accounted for 15.4 per cent of the value traded last week.
The most actively traded shares were United Arab Investors, El Zay Ready Wear Manufacturing and Tuhama for Financial Investments with a combined value traded of JD29.03 million accounting for 20.76 per cent of the week’s total value traded.
Several block deals were executed last week, the most significant of which were deals on shares of United Arab Investors and Arab Paper Converting and Trading with transaction values of JD983,250 and JD442,322 respectively.
According to statistics published by the Insurance Commission, the gross insurance premiums increased by 16 per cent during the January-July period of this year to JD177.8 million compared to JD153.1 million for the same period in 2006.
Gross money transfers by Jordanians working abroad for the first half of this year was valued at JD1.2 billion, which represents a growth of 18 per cent, or an increase of JD180 million, compared to the same period last year.
The government’s draft budget was estimated at JD4.67 billion for 2008, an increase of 7.6 per cent above the 2007 budget of JD4.34 billion. Real gross domestic product is expected to grow at an average of 6 per cent per annum during the 2008-2010 period.
Société Générale de Banque-Jordanie will increase its capital by 50 per cent through rights issue to existing shareholders. The bank’s share price closed at JD3.36 up by 4.02 per cent whilst trading at a forward P/E ratio 15.82x.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade approved the 10 per cent share dividend for Transport and Investment Barter Company. The company’s paid-up capital will increase from JD10 million to JD11 million.
The Union Bank for Savings and Investment recorded a net profit of around JD8.5 million during the first half of 2007 compared to around JD7.6 million last year. The bank’s shares will be suspended from trading until the bank completes the issuance of 29 million new shares and incorporating a strategic partner. The share price closed at JD3.05 up by 2.01 per cent while trading at a forward P/E ratio 11.81x.
Jordan Investment Trust singed an agreement with the Industrial Commercial and Agriculture Company under which Jordinvest acts as an exclusive financial advisor, arranger and lead manager for the proposed expansion, restructuring, and securities offering for four companies, four factories and three companies under establishment.