Bucharest Stock Exchange triples profit in the second quarter on Electrica’s IPO, Romgaz sale

Two large transactions, the initial public offering (IPO) of Romania’s electricity distributor Electrica and the sale of a 5% stake in Romgaz by Fondul Proprietatea, doubled the value of transactions on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) in the second quarter of this year, which led to 82% higher revenues for the market operator. BVB posted a turnover of EUR 1.9 million in the period April 1 to June 30, and increased its operational profit by 289%, to EUR 1.06 million. The net profit tripled to EUR 960,000, the company announced on August 7. This also increased BVB’s results for the first half of the year. Turnover was up 47%, to EUR 2.94 million and the net profit grew by a third, to EUR 1.37 million. The total value of share trading was EUR 1.63 billion in the first half, 69% higher than in the same period of 2013. About EUR 500 million came just from the Electrica IPO (EUR 355 million) and from the sale of EUR 5% in Romgaz by Fondul Proprietatea, for EUR 146 million. The daily trading also increased in the first six months of the year, as foreign investors poured more money into Romanian stocks. Polish Ludwik Sobolewski, who took over as CEO of BVB in September 2013, accelerated the modernization of the market and set as target to get Romania upgraded to emerging market status. The Bucharest Stock Exchange is currently controlled by brokerage firms, banks and investment funds, with no shareholder allowed to own more than 5% of the shares. Among the main shareholders are Franklin Templeton funds, ING funds, BCR-Erste but also Romanian investment funds. Bucharest Stock Exchange is a listed company, its shares trading with the ticker BVB. The company has a market capitalization of EUR 50.5 million. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com