Tug-Of-War - Atlas Market Brief 20 Feb 2002

Ahead of the Eid Al Adha holiday marked from Thursday to Monday, the market suffered another sour trading session this week. Despite fresh rounds of earnings announcements, investors remained cautious as details of the banking scandal that rocked the market remained mysterious. Although intended to promote transparency and boost confidence, reports in the local press seemed to have backfired and confused investors leaving more questions unanswered. Consequently, traders sold out their holdings and pushed the market towards a severe drop on Sunday. Surprisingly, one of the only stocks that ended without losses that Sunday was Jordan National Bank (JONB) as unusual buy orders supported the mounting selling pressure.

Jordan Press Foundation (PRES) seems to have escaped the downward trend untouched. Fueled by a surge in its ad revenues, net earnings increased 8% to JD3.13 million. It also revealed its plans to distribute a JD0.7 cash dividend per share which seemed to please investors, as it closed 1% higher at JD7.78. Similarly, Jordanian Electric Power (JOEP) made some gains this week, powered by a 61% jump in its earnings from continued operations to JD11.5 million. It closed 3% higher at JD2.38.

In its annual meeting, Jordan Kuwait Bank (JOKB)'s General Assembly approved a JD0.15 cash dividend for the past fiscal year. In the meeting, bank officials expressed their intent to tie-up with a foreign bank since earlier discussions with local banks have failed. On the heels of its General Assembly meeting last week, National Steel (NAST) fell by JD0.18 as it entered its ex-dividend period. Last week, company officials proposed a JD0.15 cash dividend, which the general assembly later approved.

Finally, according to a report in a Jordanian newspaper, 80% of the listed companies have filed their financial results within the required deadline. Regulations stipulate that companies should file their annual results with the Jordan Securities Commission (JSC) within 45 days of the fiscal year's end. The report also stated that the JSC plans to make public the companies that actually observed the deadline and those that did not.