LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), July 23 (SeeNews) - Slovenian stock indices fell for a second session running on Monday, with blue-chip energy-to-tourism group Istrabenz plummeting more than 12%, as investors took profits and headed off on holiday, brokers said.
The broader 15-share SBI20 index lost 2.29% to close at 11,145.86 points and the blue-chip SBITOP index was down 2.19% to 2,426.22.
"Turnovers were very low [...] Investors are taking profits and are going on holiday," Marko Jovic, an analyst with Abanka Vipa, told SeeNews. Turnover on the Ljubljana Stock exchange (LJSE) fell to 8.64 million euro ($11.9 million) on Monday from 15.02 million euro on Friday.
Jovic expects low daily turnover to continue until the end of this week and for the indices to fall compared to last week. "Holidays have started," he added.
Istrabenz was the biggest loser among the blue chips after its recent rally. It lost 12.25% to an average 125.18 euro.
Istrabenz shares gained some 40% from July 10 until Friday when they traded at an average 144.62 euro. Brokers have attributed the jump to an ownership battle within the company.
"Probably, one of the bigger shareholders has quit [the battle], the shareholder has acquired enough shares and has stopped. There was no more demand pressure," Jovic said. He expects Istrabenz shares to fall further in calm trading on Tuesday. "The price may fall by one to two percent," Jovic added.
Last week Serbian group Delta Holding said it had offered to buy the combined stake of state-owned investment funds SOD and KAD in Istrabenz. Slovenian financial company Infond Holding and diversified group Tus have also placed bids to buy the stakes held by SOD and KAD. The holdings of the two investment funds in Istrabenz comprise a combined 28.22% and a buyer would become the largest single shareholder in the company.
Brokers have said that the company's current shareholders were also buying its stock, trying to raise their stakes and prevent the future buyer of the combined funds stake from becoming too powerful. On Monday, Istrabenz said it had raised its stake in Slovenian fuel trader Petrol to 10.28% from 9.32%. Brokers have said that the fact that Istrabenz was raising its stake in Petrol also contributed to the rise in its share price.
Blue-chip Petrol lost 0.24% to 910.2 euro on Monday on profit taking, Jovic said. Petrol started rising last Wednesday, following reports in local dailies that Hungarian oil group MOL is interested in buying into the company. Petrol said it had not received any official notification from MOL regarding on any integration or takeover proposals.
The country's largest brewer, Pivovarna Laslo, was the only gainer among the 10 blue chips on Monday, adding 0.03% to 90.58 euro.
($ = 0.72 euro)
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