September 4 (SeeNews) - The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) said on Tuesday its main index BET will include fast food service group Sphera Franchise [BSE:SFG] and wine maker Purcari [BSE:WINE], adding up to a total of 15 companies.
The two companies will also join BET-TR, the total return version of BET, BVB said in a press release.
The Index Committee also decided during a September 3 meeting to put aluminium producer Alro [BSE:ALR] on the watchlist for a possible future promotion in the BET and BET-TR indices.
For the first time in the history of the Romanian capital market the two indices will include 15 companies. The changes will come to effect on September 24.
"Once expanded to 15 companies, the investors will benefit from the enhanced diversification of the companies comprised by these indices, thus providing a lower level of sectorial risk embedded in the two indices," BVB CEO Adrian Tanase said.
The shares of Sphera Franchise Group, one of the most important foodservice operators in Romania, started trading on BVB on November 9, 2017. The company, which manages restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands, became the first listed foodservice operator on BVB.
Shares of Purcari Wineries a leading CEE wine producer, started trading on the Main Market of BVB on February 15. Purcari marked the first public listing by a Moldova-based company on the Romania capital market. Purcari Wineries is one of the largest CEE wine groups, operating over 1,000 hectares of vineyards, and delivering to over 30 countries around the globe.
BET (Bucharest Exchange Trading index) is the first index developed by BVB and represents the benchmark index for the local capital market. Established on September 19, 1997, BET has included a maximum of 10 companies for nearly two decades.
SFG shares were trading 0.79% lower at 25lei on Tuesday at 1316 CET on Tuesday.
Purgari's shares were trading 1.08% higher at 18.8 lei on Tuesday at 1316 CET on the BVB.
(1 euro=4.6321 lei)