AMMAN — The index of the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) continued to lose value last week, closing at 5918.2 points, down by 0.92 per cent. The decline came despite the postponing of the cash trading regulations until the beginning of 2008. Market capitalisation stood at JD22.7 billion.

The average daily trading volume increased by 26.4 per cent to JD47.61 million as the services sector accounted for 74.2 per cent of the total trading volume for the week. Overall, advancers outnumbered decliners as 91 companies out of 174 advanced, while 64 companies declined.

In the banking sector, Jordan National Bank (JNB) announced a net income of JD19.5 million during the third quarter of this year. The amount represented a 3.5 per cent decline from the JD20.2 million achieved in the same period of last year. Accordingly, capital Investments forecasts for JNB’s net income for 2006 have declined from JD26.4 million to JD25.5 million.

JNB’s share price increased by 0.7 per cent last week. It currently trades at a 2006 forward P/E of 12.28x.

In the insurance sector, the index dropped by 81 points to stand at 4882.5 points, a decline of 1.6 per cent. The forecasted income for the companies in the sector based on their third quarter results dropped by 82.4 per cent to 12.7 million compared to the JD72.5 million realised in 2005.

In the services sector, United Financial Investments Co. (UFICI) announced a net profit of JD1.44 million for the first nine months of this year, equal to an earnings per share of JD0.29. UCFI has also announced its intention to establish a brokerage firm in Syria, where the government intends to launch the Damascus Securities Exchange.

By the end of October, UFIC ranked 15th among brokers on the ASE with 2.5 per cent of the total trading volume.

The Jordan Press & Publishing/ Ad Dustour announced a JD804,000 net income over the past nine months compared to JD82,000 for the same period last year, a growth of 880 per cent. The share of the company currently trades at a 2006 forward P/E of 14.9x.

In the industrial sector, Jordan New Cable Company’s (JNCC) share price rose by 3.4 per cent last week to reach JD6.38, with the trading volume on the stock reaching JD87.200.

JNCC achieved a net profit of JD6.04 million in the first nine months of the year compared to JD4.6 million in the same period last year. The company’s sales increased considerably by 88.9 per cent, from JD21.8 million in the first nine months of 2005 to JD41.2 million in the same period of this year.

The industry sector index settled at the 2475-point level with a YTD loss of 14.7 per cent.

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