The Bucharest Stock Exchange posted a net profit of EUR 4 million in 2011, three times more than the year before, fueled by one-off cashings, mostly from dividends from 2007 and 2010 from the Central Depositary. Its turnover – which represents revenues from stock market core activities – was of EUR 5.1 million, while its operational expenses stood at EUR 3.6 million.

The BSE's operational profit, resulting from its core activities, was of EUR 1.4 million, 21 times more than the year before, when it barely made a profit. The Bucharest Stock Exchange is the majority shareholder in the Central Depositary, which ensures the clearing and settlement of transactions concluded on the BSE and keeps a record of the issuers’ registries.

The Bucharest Stock Exchange ended 2011 with a market capitalization of around EUR 16.3 billion, down on EUR 23.8 billion the year before. The average value of daily transactions was of EUR 9 million last year, down from a peak of EUR 16.6 million in 2007. This makes it one of the smallest stock markets in the region. For comparison, the Warsaw Stock Exchange has a market capitalization exceeding EUR 120 billion.

The BSE will hire an executive search firm that will be charged with selecting candidates for the BSE's general manager seat. The BSE's new board, headed by Lucian Anghel, chose Adi Lupsan, the deputy GM at brokerage firm Intercapital Invest and Dan Paul, the president of the Brokers' Association, as vice presidents. The BSE will organize a conference next week to announce its long-term strategic priorities and the proposed measures to support the planned Initial Public Offerings in 2012.

Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com