How were companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange able to achieve their second-highest first-half profits on record in 2026, while the region experienced unprecedented tensions and the U.S.-Iran war placed heavy pressure on energy, transportation, trade, and global supply chains?
اضافة اعلان
The answer begins with the ability of listed companies to adapt to economic shocks, control operating costs, and maintain healthy cash flows and market positions. Out of 155 listed companies, 153 submitted their financial results for the period ending June 30, 2026, providing a broad and reliable basis for assessing the actual performance of Jordan's private sector.
The results show that net profits after tax attributable to shareholders reached JD 1.2005 billion, compared with JD 1.0501 billion during the first half of 2025 an increase of 14.3%. This represents the second-highest first-half net profit in the history of listed companies, surpassed only by the first half of 2022.
Meanwhile, pre-tax profits rose from JD 1.5063 billion in the first half of 2025 to JD 1.6681 billion in the first half of 2026, an increase of 10.7%.
To better understand this growth, it is important to look beyond the aggregate figures and examine how many companies generated these profits, comparing their performance with the same period last year.
In the first half of 2026, 107 companies reported profits totaling JD 1.2239 billion. During the same period in 2025, the same number of companies 107 posted profits, amounting to JD 1.0735 billion.
The fact that the number of profitable companies remained unchanged indicates that the improvement was driven primarily by stronger earnings among companies that were already profitable, rather than by a large number of loss-making companies returning to profitability.
This raises another important question: Was the increase broadly distributed across the market, or was it concentrated among the leading companies?
The top ten most profitable companies during the first half of 2026 were:
Arab Bank
Jordan Phosphate Mines Company
Arab Potash Company
Housing Bank for Trade and Finance
Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company (JoPetrol)
Bank al Etihad
Jordan Capital and Investment Fund
Jordan Kuwait Bank
Jordan Islamic Bank
Jordan Telecommunications Company
Together, these ten companies generated JD 1.0154 billion, accounting for 83% of the total profits earned by the 107 profitable companies during the first half of 2026.
This concentration carries two important implications. First, it demonstrates the strength of Jordan's leading corporations and their ability to generate substantial profits despite regional conflict and geopolitical instability.
Second, it highlights that the overall market's performance still depends heavily on a relatively small number of companies.
Sustaining this positive trend will therefore require expanding profitability across a broader range of listed firms.
Looking at the opposite side of the market, 46 companies reported losses totaling JD 23.36 million, compared with 45 companies that posted losses of JD 23.37 million during the same period last year.
Although the number of loss-making companies increased by one, the overall value of losses remained virtually unchanged, suggesting that financial distress has been contained, even if its underlying causes have not yet been fully addressed.
Sector performance also paints a more complete picture. Eighty-five financial companies generated JD 687.2 million in net profits, 39 service companies earned JD 128.1 million, while 29 industrial companies posted JD 385.1 million in profits.
Sectoral profit growth reached:
Financial sector: 6.7%
Services sector: 64.3%
Industrial sector: 17.5%
The breadth of the recovery is further reflected in strong gains across several industries:
Energy and utilities: 123.3%
Chemicals: 93.4%
Transportation: 72.5%
Real estate: 68.5%
Pharmaceuticals and medical industries: 30.7%
Insurance: 20.7%
Extractive industries and mining: 17.8%
Technology and telecommunications: 15.4%
Banking: 5.8%
What do these results mean for the Amman Stock Exchange?
They strengthen companies' ability to distribute dividends and finance future expansion, enhance the attractiveness of Jordanian equities, support market valuations and trading activity, and boost investor confidence.
They also provide the market with a stronger financial foundation for attracting fresh liquidity and encouraging additional companies to list on the exchange.
The impact extends beyond the capital market to the broader economy. Higher banking profits increase the sector's capacity to finance economic activity, while stronger industrial and mining earnings support exports and foreign currency inflows.
Meanwhile, improved performance in services, transportation, and real estate reflects healthier activity across key segments of the domestic economy.
Ultimately, however, the full economic value of these record profits will depend on companies' ability to convert them into productive investments, business expansion, and job creation.
When the strength currently demonstrated by Jordan's leading corporations spreads to a wider base of companies and sectors, these historic profits will represent not just an exceptional set of half-year financial results, but evidence of a stronger and more sustainable economy.
