(MENAFN - Jordan Times) Despite a substantial fall in third quarter corporate earnings, the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) closed last week at 2,615.9 points, slightly down by 0.3 per cent. The decline was restrained by higher share prices of Royal Jordanian and Jordan Cement, which recorded higher than expected profits, and Arab Bank whose shares came under a strong demand following a JD46.6 million block deal executed by a Saudi investor.
We expect investors to start building new positions next week in the shares of companies which recorded strong third quarter results, with a chance for an increase in activity on the shares of speculative stocks which fell considerably in the past few weeks.
Except for the services and banking sectors, all other indices regressed with real estate posting the largest drop of 3.7 per cent followed by the industrial sector with 1.7 per cent decline.
As for the trading activity, 114.5 million shares exchanged hands leaving gains at 65 companies and losses at 102 entities out of 194 traded corporations
In terms of value traded by sector, real estate came in first place accounting for 25.9 per cent of total followed by the services sector with 25.6 per cent and then the industrial which accounted for 19.3 per cent of the total value traded.
The most actively traded shares last week were those of Royal Jordanian Airlines, Taameer Jordan Holdings and South Electronics with a combined value traded of JD25.7 million accounting for 15.7 per cent of the total.
Several block deals were executed most significantly were on shares of Arab Bank, Al Ahlia Enterprises and Amwal Invest with transaction values amounting to JD46.6 million JD4.6 million and JD1.7 million respectively.
Jordan Phosphate Mines (JOPH) generated a JD80.9 million net income during the January-September of this year compared to JD203.7 million during the same period last year.
Royal Jordanian Airlines announced a profit of JD25.5 million during the first nine months of 2009 compared to a loss of JD3.8 million during the same period of 2008.
Jordan Telecom (JTEL) posted a net profit of JD77.7 million as of the end of September 2009 compared to JD77.3 million at the end of September 2008.
Lafarge Jordan Cement (JOCM) increased net profit by 29.3 per cent to of JD53. 7 million during the January-September of this year compared to JD41.6 million during the same period last year.
Bank of Jordan posted a profit of JD23.4 million during the first nine months of this year, 22.5 per cent lower than JD30.2 million during the same period of in 2008.
Jordan Press Foundation announced a net income of JD4.1 million for the first three quarters of this year compared with JD7.2 million in the same period last year.
Net income of Arab Potash Company fell by 51.4 per cent to JD106.2 million during the January-September of this year compared to JD218.2 million profit in the same period of 2008.
According to a report issued by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), total deposits at licensed Jordanian banks rose by 8.3 per cent during the first eight months of the year to JD19.6 billion over its balance at the beginning of the year.
The Ministry of Finance revealed that the government's internal debt has increased by JD1.1 billion during the first nine months of 2009 to JD6.8 million compared to JD5,754 million at the end of 2008.
Disclaimer: The above information and opinions have been compiled in good faith from sources believed to be reliable, but Capital Investments makes no warranty as to the truth and accuracy of the information contained herein. All opinions expressed are not to be regarded as investment advice, and are only for informative purposes. Therefore, Capital Investments accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss of any kind arising out of the use of all or any part of this report.
