Jordan Times
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Amman Stock Exchange:
weekly analysis
AMMAN - The index of Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) fluctuated last week before
settling at 8738.99 points, up 1.01 per cent. The market was marked by a bullish
start on Sunday when the ASE index shot up by 1.14 per cent, but profit-taking
on Monday and Tuesday erased all the gains. The bourse rallied back during the
last two days driven by a rise in the share price of heavyweight Arab Potash.
This week, we expect first quarter results to determine the direction of the
market is likely expected to be redirected towards shares of companies with
strong earnings.
Real estate was the only sector that regressed last week as its index fell by
0.59 per cent. The diversified financial services and industrial sectors
recorded the highest gains as their indices increased by 2.12 per cent and 1.21
per cent respectively.
As for trading activity, 112.05 million shares exchanged hands and the average
daily trading value dropped by 15.2 per cent to JD86.642 million. Decliners
outnumbered advancers, as 95 companies out of 198 declined, while 86 advanced.
In terms of value traded by sector, services came in first place accounting for
36.9 per cent of the total followed by the industrial sector with 29.9 per cent
and then the real estate which accounted for 14.6 per cent of the value traded
last week.
The most actively traded shares were Jordan Electric Power, Royal Jordanian and
Union Land Development Corp. with a combined value traded of JD129.14 million
accounting for 29.8 per cent of the total value traded.
Several block deals were executed last week, most significant of which were
deals on shares of Jordan Islamic Bank, Middle East Complex For Eng.,
Electronics and Taameer Jordan with transaction values of JD6.2 million, JD5.95
million and JD5.17 million respectively.
Industrial Development Bank reported net profit of JD1.732 million for the first
quarter of 2008 compared to JD3.18 million in the same period of last year. The
share price of the bank dropped by 2 per cent closing last week at JD3.43 while
it trades at a P/E ratio of 9.42 x.
Union Advanced Industries achieved a net profit of JD313,740 in the first
quarter of this year compared to JD374,910 in the same period of 2007.
Profit of Contempro for Housing Projects reached JD142,100 during the first
quarter of 2008 compared to JD208,600 in the same period last year.
The general assembly of Cairo Amman Bank approved the recommendation of the
board of directors to increase the bank’s paid-up capital to JD80 million
through the distribution of a 6.67 per cent stock dividend. The general assembly
also approved the distribution of a 10 per cent cash dividend. The bank’s share
price increased by 0.32 per cent to JD3.13 whilst trading at a P/E multiple of
11.2x.
The general assembly of Jordan Cement Factories approved the recommendation of
the board of directors to distribute JD39.3 million in cash dividends at a rate
of 65 per cent. The board announced a 51 per cent acquisition of three companies
from Al Aloul Group.
Jordan Investment Trust’s general assembly approved the distribution of cash
dividends at the rate of eight per cent of the company’s paid-up capital.
The number of passengers transported by Royal Jordanian in March 2008 increased
by 24 per cent in comparison with March 2007. The airline transported 199,000
passengers last month compared to 160,000 in the same month of last year. The
share price of the airline rose by 0.27 per cent to JD3.71 whilst trading at a
P/E multiple of 15.4x.
According to the Amman Chamber of Industry, national exports increased by 11 per
cent to JD497.3 million during the first quarter of this year compared to
JD448.8 million in the same period last year.
Data issued by the Department of Statistics showed that the general index of
wholesale prices increased for the first quarter of 2008 by 12.93 per cent
compared to the same period in 2007.
Preliminary statistics issued by the Insurance Commission showed that total
insurance premiums rose by 13 per cent to JD82.2 million during the first three
months compared to JD72.9 million during the same period in 2007, a rise of 13
per cent.