Jordan Times
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Amman Stock Exchange: weekly analysis
AMMAN - For the sixth week in a row, the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) general index continued recording gains influenced by increases in the indices of all major sectors as well as the significant rise in average daily trading volumes.
The index went up by 1.66 per cent last week closing on Thursday at 6,484.50 points. Market capitalisation rose to JD25.05 billion, up by 1.42 per cent.
Indices of diversified financial services, real estate and services sector increased by 6.15 per cent, 5.22 per cent and 2.96 per cent respectively.
As for trading activity, 72.32 million shares exchanged hands, while the average daily trading value surged by 39.2 per cent to JD63.37 million. Overall, advancers outnumbered decliners as, 113 companies out of 175 advanced, 49 declined and 13 remained unchanged.
In terms of value traded by sector, the real estate sector came in first place accounting for 29.8 per cent of the total value traded followed by diversified financial services with 28.8 per cent and then the banking sector which accounted for 18.7 per cent.
The most actively traded shares last week were United Arab Investors, Tameer Jordan and Union Investment Corporation with a combined value traded of JD65.6 million representing 34.6 per cent of the week’s total value traded.
Several block deals were executed, most significant of which were deals on shares of Specialised Investments Compounds and Tameer Jordan with transaction values of JD576,000 and JD548,213 respectively.
Data issued by the Department of Statistics showed a rise in the value of national exports by 11.3 per cent and in reexports by 6 per cent during the first eight months of 2007 compared to the same period of 2006. The value of imports rose by 10 per cent during the same period. According to the International Monetary Fund, Jordan will maintain strong economic progress with a 6 per cent growth in real gross domestic product between 2007 and 2008.
Jordan advanced to 8th on the list of the best 20 countries in the flow of foreign direct investment in 2007, compared to ranking the 19th in investment strength during 2006.
Higher international oil prices are expected to widen the budget deficit this year.
The general assembly of the Industrial Development Bank (IDB) approved the board of director’s recommendation to increase the paid up capital of the bank from JD24 million to JD50 million and authorised the board to apply for an Islamic bank licence. Shareholders also approved the investment of strategic partners Jordan Dubai Capital (60 per cent), Dubai Islamic Bank (20 per cent) and Dubai International (20 per cent). The IDB share price closed at JD2.95 down by 0.67 per cent while trading at a forward P/E ratio 8.5x.
Jordan Phosphate Mines signed a $300 million memorandum of understanding with Mitsubishi Corporation (Japan) to establish two phosphoric acid factories with a daily production capacity of 1,000 tonnes and 3,000 tonnes each.
By listing the additional shares of Jordan Specialised Investments valued at JD500,000, the capital of the firm becomes JD4.5 million. The share price of the company closed at JD4.02 up by 10.14 per ecnt while trading at a forward P/E ratio 34.2x.
Model Restaurants Company announced the approval of Jordan’s securities commission to register the company’s capital of JD25 million, 75 per cent covered by the founding partners of the company while the remaining 6.25 million shares are covered through a public offering.