market WRAP-UP
The market made a step back on Thursday. The volumes remained low and the sellers seemed to be the more active ones again. Still the spreads remained quite wide and even small number of shares traded was enough to register significant changes. SOFIX closed at 1244.53 bps (-1.42%) with the main pressure coming from Sopharma (SFARM, BGN 6.21, - 4.46%) and Chimimport (CHIM, BGN 8.60, -2.27%). A sharp drop in Orgachim (ORGH, BGN 407.00, -4.24%) with only 32 shares traded pushed BG40 2.53% down to 354.07 bps, almost fully offsetting the gain from Wednesday. The equally weighted BGTR30 moved 1.76% down to 816.54 bps with the major changes coming from M+S Hydraulics (MCH, BGN 9.77, -5.81%), Doverie United Holding (DOVUHL, BGN 10.67, -3.96%) and Central Cooperative Bank (CCB, BGN 6.05, -3.18%). Vouchers moved down under sell pressure and closed in the BGN 0.4100 – BGN 0.4102 range.
SOFIX/ BG40 (chart)
BGREIT/ BGTR30 (chart)
| Sofix | BG 40 | BGREIT | BGTR30 | |
| Value | 1 244.53 | 354.07 | 96.25 | 816.54 |
| 1-day change (%) | -1.42 | -2.53 | 0.80 | -1.76 |
| 7-day change (%) | 1.15 | 1.76 | 0.20 | 1.97 |
| 90-day change (%) | -29.60 | -31.65 | -6.77 | -25.60 |
| 365-day change (%) | -1.37 | 42.78 | -3.75 | -18.35 |
Note: BG REIT and BG TR30 started 31 August 2007
| BSE Daily Volume | 3 871 404 |
| BSE Daily Turnover | 21 432 251 |
| Average Daily Turnover YTD | 15 548 188 |
| Average Daily Turnover 12 months | 38 016 350 |
Most recent macro data
| Inflation (M/M February) | 1.1% |
| Inflation (cumulative 2008) | 2.5% |
| LEONIA Reference Rate | 4.88% |
| SOFIBOR /3 months/ | 6.698% |
| GDP Growth (Y/Y 2007) | 6.2% |
| Unemployment (Feb 2008) | 7.26% |
exchange rates
| Current | Change | |
| BGN/USD | 1.23896 | -0.006 |
| BGN/EUR | 1.95583 | Fixed |
| EUR/USD | 1.57861 | 0.00761 |
DAILY TRADING (selected stocks) (table)
All figures in BGN (BGN/EUR rate fixed at 1.95583)
Compensatory Instruments (table)
ECONOMY AND POLITICS
Energy sector
Natural gas price to be hiked by 13.25% as of April
The State Energy and Water Regulation Commission (SEWRC) has rejected the 32.07% increase in the price of natural gas demanded by Bulgargaz as of April 2008, BGNES reported.
The price of natural gas will be hiked from BGN 365.10 to BGN 413.47 per 1,000 m3 (VAT excluded), which represents a 13.25% increase, SEWRC decided at a closed meeting held on Thursday.
The gas distributor has not yet said if it is considering to challenge the new tariff in court but is very likely to do so soon. The court is yet to rule on the legitimacy of the regulatory decision on the January price hike.
Source: Dnevnik; Profit.bg
Macroeconomic news and statistics
January gross external debt down by EUR 716m YoY
Gross external debt amounted to EUR 27.4bn (83.7% of GDP) as at the end of January 2008, down by EUR 716m (2.5%) compared to the end of 2007 when it stood at EUR 28.1bn, or 97.3% of GDP, Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) data shows.
The greatest contribution to the debt decrease was due to deposits of non-residents in local banks (a decrease of EUR 788.3m, 20.1%). The long-term liabilities amounted to EUR 18.7bn (68% of total debt) by end-January 2008, while short-term liabilities came to EUR 8.8bn (32% of total debt).
State foreign debt amounted to EUR 3.1bn (9.2% of GDP) as of end-January 2008 down by EUR 6.8m (0.2%) against the end of December 2007. Banks’ external debt totalled EUR 4.9bn (15.1% of GDP), marking a decline of EUR 815m (14.2%) against the end of 2007.
As of end-January 2008, net external debt amounted to EUR 11.4bn (34.8% of GDP) marking an increase of EUR 386m (3.5%) against the end of 2007 (EUR 11bn, 38.1% of GDP).
Source: Profit.bg
IT
IT market hits USD 873m in 2007
The Bulgarian IT market reached USD 873m in 2007, showsdata of market research company IDC. Almost all market segments rose in excess of 10% in 2007 with software and network equipment the only product categories failing to match that momentum.
A total of 330k computers were sold last year. Printer sales topped USD 22m in terms of value and 92k in terms of volume. The software market was valued at USD 77m in 2007 with Enterprise Resource Planning solutions posting a double-digit growth.
Telecom services dominate the market with a 90% share. The market share of fixed-line voice services continues to erode as data casting revenues increase.
IDC estimates the landline market share of BTC at95%. Fixed-line broadband access rose 30% in 2007. Broadband penetration, enabled by BTC's ADSL network, the domestic cable, LAN and WiMAX operators, is measured by IDC at 7%.
Source: Dnevnik
Telecommunication sector
Orbitel invested EUR 12m in optic network
Orbitel, owned by Magyar Telekom, said it has invested EUR 12m in a nationwide fiber-optic network as the company positions itself as a provider of broadband Internet. Orbitel plans to use the fiber-optic network, which covers 90% of population, to provide end-customer services as well as long-distance and international connectivity.
The untapped potential of the Bulgarian broadband market was spotlighted in a recent European Commission report which placed the country at the bottom of broadband penetration with only 7.6% versus an EU average of 20%.
Source: Dnevnik
CORPORATE news
BTC
BTC to invest BGN 110m in cellular, ADSL infrastructure
BTC announced it has planned BGN 110m for investment in its Vivatel wireless brand and ADSL infrastructure in 2008, company CEO Bernard Moscheni said on Thursday.
The number of fixed-line customers has been on a decline over the past two years and is down to 2.2m at present, said the CEO.
Vivatel currently has 1.1m subscribers and is readyto provide mobile number portability from April 14. Prelaunch testing has so far been successful.
The ADSL customer base doubled in the past year to 2.2m subscribers and should repeat that growth margin in 2008, said Lyubov Kirilova, residential customers director at BTC.
An April 14 general shareholder meeting will vote on a proposal to distribute as dividend EUR 235m for 2007.
Source: Dnevnik
SFARM
Sopharma to invest EUR 8m in Serbian plant
Sopharma will invest some EUR 8m in a new pharmaceutical facility in Serbia, the Bulgarian Stock exchange announced. The facility is planned to start operating by 2009.
The executive director of the company, Ognyan Donev, has also signed the agreement on the purchase of 90% of Belgrade-based drug maker Ivancic & Sons, which manufactures 21 products.
Source: Pari
TRACE
management of Trace Group Hold decided to register a new subsidiary
Trace Group Hold will register in Stara Zagora a new 100%owned subsidiary by the name Road Signalling and Installations, announced the company. The subsidiary will specialise in production of and trade in road installations and road signalling products.
Source: Pari
DRUPL
Drujba Glassworks to distribute stock dividend
At a general meeting the shareholders of Drujba Glassworks approved the decision toraise the company’s capital from BGN 6.7m to BGN 53.5m, using own funds (stock dividend).
The GSM also authorized the Board of Directors to increase registered capital up to BGN 200m and to issue debt up to the same amount in the next five years. The authorization is also valid for a term of 5 years.
Source: Dnevnik; Profit.bg
ELHIM
Elhim Iskra forecasts net profit of BGN 2.5m for 2008
Elhim Iskra projects to book net profit of BGN 2.5m and revenues of BGN 43.3m (23% higher compared to 2007) in 2008, announced the company to Investor.bg.
2008 investments are forecasted to reachBGN 1.9m and all of them will be financed with own funds. The investments made in 2007 were also financed by company’s funds and stood at BGN 1.2m according to the company.
Source: (Investor.bg; FFBH)
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