Analyst blasts performance at Amman Stock Exchange

AMMAN — More than 130 companies do not deserve to be enlisted on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) due to their low performance, lack of institutional governance and the volume of their free shares available for trade, president of the Certified Financial Analyst Society in Jordan, Jamil Anz, said Monday.

The ASE lost a lot of public confidence due to speculation practices, especially after the losses incurred by small investors who turned to deposit their money in banks or buy real estates instead of investing in the ASE, Anz added.

Noting that shares of some companies are traded at a book value less than capital or with cumulative losses that exceed capital, he indicated that  some shares have a value of JD0.100 and are still trading. Of 227 companies listed on the ASE, trading is concentrated there  30 - 40 firms that are the most active in the market, Anz added.