The General Assembly of the Palestine Exchange approved the recommendation of the Board of Directors of the Stock Exchange to distribute cash dividends to shareholders at a rate of 10% of the nominal value, during the ordinary General Assembly meeting that was held at the “Paltel” business center in Ramallah.

According to a statement issued by the stock exchange today, Friday, the meeting took place in the presence of the chairman and members of the stock exchange’s board of directors and representatives of its executive management, and with the participation of the representative of the companies’ registrar at the Ministry of National Economy, Bilal Kittaneh, and the external auditor, Abdul Karim Mahmoud, representing the “Ernst & Young” company, and the legal advisor Haitham. Al-Zoubi, in addition to the members of the General Assembly and their representatives.

The meeting discussed all the items and recommendations on the agenda, as the General Assembly approved the administrative report for the year 2022, the financial statements and the auditor’s report for the fiscal year 2022, and the remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors and their discharge for the fiscal year 2022, in addition to the re-election of the “Ernst & Young” company. To audit the stock exchange’s accounts for the fiscal year 2023, and to authorize the Board of Directors to determine its fees.

In this context, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Palestine Exchange, Samir Hulileh, said: “During the past year, the Palestinian economy experienced many difficult events, but the performance of the listed companies for the year 2022, despite all the disturbing indicators of the state of the global economy, clearly illustrates the rapid developments witnessed by the most important Palestinian economic establishments, in light of their ability to adapt, withstand and achieve growing profits.

He pointed out that the stock exchange is currently leading efforts focused on reorienting the investment compass in Palestine, and giving the securities sector its share that is commensurate with its ability to advance development and advance the economic reality in light of the weakness of the general orientations of the Palestinian investors to invest in the securities sector, compared to their investments in other sectors.

He stressed the continuation of efforts to list new public shareholding companies, as two companies' applications are currently being studied for listing on the stock exchange, seeking to increase the depth of the market and provide it with new financial tools, and increase liquidity in the market, which in turn raises the value of the profits achieved for the Palestine Stock Exchange and enhances its presence.

He added: “During the year 2022, the Palestine Stock Exchange witnessed fundamental changes, both at the level of its board of directors and its executive management, in a way that achieves the aspirations of the stock exchange to bring about a real renaissance in the Palestinian securities sector and keep pace with the rapid developments in this vital sector globally.”

The Palestine Stock Exchange achieved net profits for the year 2022 that amounted to $1,008,352, with a slight increase of 0.57% over the year 2021. On the other hand, the net profit per share amounted to about $0.10. Turnover increased by 13% compared to 2021.

The statistical data issued by it indicated that it achieved an outstanding performance compared to the Arab and international markets, as its main index, “Al-Quds Index”, increased by 5.14%.

During the year 2022, the Palestine Stock Exchange witnessed new exceptional listings and important deals, in addition to the launch of the Al-Quds Islamic Index. The Arkan Real Estate Company, which is a subsidiary of the Palestine Telecommunications Company (Paltel), and Al-Safa Islamic Bank, were listed. During the same year, the Stock Exchange witnessed the implementation of the largest deal in its history. With a value of approximately $51 million on the shares of Palestine Development and Investment Company (PADICO Holding).

It is noteworthy that the number of investors in the Palestine Stock Exchange reached, until the end of the year 2022, approximately 70,000 investors distributed over 123,000 accounts with different classifications between active and passive, with only 2,500 new accounts opened during the aforementioned year.