Ammon News - The combined net profits of publicly-traded companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) plunged by 65.6 percent in 2020, down to JD383.1 million from a staggering JD1.11 billion in 2019.

The combined pre-tax profits of listed firms marked a 58.5-percent slump in 2020, standing at JD663 million against JD1.59 billion a year earlier, according to Chief Executive Officer of the ASE, Mazen Wathaifi.

The figures cover 167 companies, out of a total of 178, which submitted their 2020 financial results to the stock market, Wathaifi noted in a statement released Sunday.

In his sectorial breakdown on the 2020 performance of listed firms, Wathaifi said the industrial sector saw its net profit decline by 9.6 percent, down to JD142.9 million compared with JD158.1 million in 2019.

As for the financial sector, the ASE CEO indicated that this sector suffered a 68.4-percent decline in its profits in the past year, plummeting to JD251.9 million against JD798.3 million in 2019.

Moreover, the services sector saw its profits dip to only JD11.8 million in 2020 from JD158.7 million a year earlier, indicating a major decline of 107.4 percent, according to Wathaifi.

He cited the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns as the primary drivers of the decline in the listed firms' profitability in 2020. However, the ASE CEO noted that the profits of listed firms rose to JD339.8 million in the second half of 2020 compared with JD43.3 million in the first half of the year.