New Ventures

The Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) faced a mixed week with most of the total volume being attributed to several bloc deals. All in all, a little more than 20 million shares, worth JD42.5 million, changed hands as the AMI and ASMI retracted by approximately 1% to 212.92 and 281.08, respectively.

The banking sector remained quiet as investors await the upcoming general assemblies for some of the major firms. The Arab Bank (ARBK), which held its annual meeting on Friday, declined 2% to JD337.5. Shareholders approved the board's recommendation to distribute a JD4.00 cash dividend per share, in addition to raising the bank's capital to JD176 million through a bonus issue.

Jordan Cement (JOCM) climbed 9% to JD7.17 ahead of next week's assembly. The company's board has put forth a plan to hand out a 20% cash dividend. Jordan Steel (JOST), on the other hand, got its 22% dividend approved during its meeting on Tuesday. The stock fell 5% to JD3.60.

Meanwhile, Jordan Industrial Resources (JOIR) will increase its capital from JD8 million to JD10 million through a private placement. Part of the transaction will act as a debt to equity swap for the company's lender, the Jordan National Bank (JONB), while the rest will be sold at a discount of 25%. JOIR rose 3% to JD1.04.

Union Tobacco and Cigarette (UTOB), which slipped 1% to JD8.30, had almost 0.25 million of its shares exchanged in a single transaction. The company announced that it plans to establish a new facility at Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates.

Industrial Commercial Agricultural (ICAG)'s management have met with their counterparts at Unilever to discuss a settlement aimed at ending their yearlong dispute. The talks also centred on using ICAG's faciltities in order to market Unilever products in Iraq and the neighbouring markets. The stock advanced 6% to JD0.91.