BELGRADE (Serbia), December 6 (SeeNews) – The shares of Serbian bus manufacturer Ikarbus surged on Thursday after the government's Privatisation Agency opened a tender for the sale of the whole state stake in the company.
On the Belgrade bourse, Ikarbus had the biggest rise, of 7.86% to 5,500 dinars ($101/69 euro) as 3,077 shares changed hands.
“The state sells its packet of shares in Ikarbus and those who speculate about the price probably sold today,” Nebojsa Grujicic, head of equity research with Sinteza brokerage, told SeeNews.
Earlier today the Privatisation Agency opened a tender for the sale of the state's 39.2% stake in Ikarbus. Binding bids should be filed by February 8. Shareholders with less than 4% stakes hold 60.2% of the company.
In April, Ikarbus signed a ten-year agreement with Italian sector peer Bredamenaribus, envisaging joint annual production of some 200 buses. Under the agreement Ikarbus and Bredamenaribus will also exchange technologies, develop new products and jointly sell their buses on foreign markets.
Ikarbus turned to a net loss of 704,000 euro last year from a net profit of 908,000 euro in 2005. It produced a total of 90 buses in 2006, down from 290 a year earlier.
(1 euro = 79.5795 Serbian dinars)