AMMAN (JT) - Operational revenues posted by the Jordan Press Foundation (JPF) in 2009 reached JD27.1 million, compared with JD29.2 million in the previous year.
Despite the decline, blamed on the financial crisis, the JPF, which issues Al Rai daily, The Jordan Times and Hatem children's magazine, remained a market leader, top JPF officials said.
During a general assembly meeting on Thursday, chaired by the foundation's chairman, Fahed Fanek, the assembly approved a recommendation by the board to distribute cash dividends to its shareholders, at a rate of 50 per cent.
Addressing assembly members, Fanek indicated that 2009 was a difficult year. He said the Jordanian economy has been adversely impacted by the repercussions of the global financial crisis, resulting in slower economic growth, a decrease in trade volume, and lower investment and consumption.
Subsequently, the volume of commercial advertisements in the market dropped by 20 per cent while for Al Rai, the drop was 12 per cent, Fanek said.
Post-tax net profit dropped last year, but "Al Rai achieved profits which allowed for the distribution of a reasonable dividend rate" while maintaining a certain amount of liquidity to meet financing requirements of any development projects in accordance with its future plans, he added.
Moreover, the net profit of the JPF reached JD5 million, compared with JD8.1 million in 2008, the foundation's chairman indicated.
Fanek said the JPF's future plans mainly involve the construction of a new printing press complex and upgrading the foundation's printing facilities at a cost of JD25 million.
Elaborating further, he said the foundation is working to complete the printing press complex project that began in the last quarter of 2009. Work should continue for 18 months to cover administration, distribution and IT buildings, besides press hangars and the foundation's central warehouses, he said.
The board financial report for 2009 revealed that the foundation maintained its commercial earnings and expanded its subscriber base by 50 per cent. Its earnings from sales and advertisements totalled JD23.4 million, which is 8.6 per cent below those posted in 2008. On the other hand, printing press revenues rose by 2.3 per cent, amounting to JD3.75 million, according to the JPF board report.
At the end of 2009, the foundation's total assets were valued at around JD35.6 million compared with JD38.3 million in 2008. Its operational capital, which reflects its financial soundness, amounted to JD22.6 million.
In terms of sales, advertisements and pre- and post-tax net profit, Al Rai ranks first among the six local Arabic dailies.
As for total equity rights, they dropped to JD31.5 million from JD34 million in 2008, the report showed. The foundation currently has JD1.875 million in compulsory reserves, JD6 million in optional reserves and JD5 million in special reserves.
In terms of corporate responsibility, the foundation has worked to keep in contact with the local community and to support public and private national institutions to achieve the Kingdom's goals, the report indicated.
Established as a private shareholder company in 1971, the JPF became a public shareholding company in 1986, with a capital of JD1 million, which grew to JD7.5 million over the following years.
During the meeting, the JPF's new board for the next four years elected Fanek as chairman and Mohammad Al Amad as vice chairman for the upcoming term.
Earlier, the general assembly elected members for the new board for the upcoming four years from the private sector. Winners by acclamation were the Arab Bank, represented on the board by Tariq Haj Hassan, Amad, Azmi Kayed and Yanal Bustami. The Social Security Corporation also named its representatives. They were Fanek, Saleh Qallab, Nasouh Majali, JPF Director General Nader Horani and Mohammad Odeh Yaseen.
© Jordan Times 2010
