Brokers and analysts say the spectacular rise in Banca Transilvania shares is because of the changes in the ownership of the bank, after Bank of Cyprus sold 10% to the regional investment funds (SIFs) in April, and fueled by the good results it posted in the 2013 and the first quarter of 2014. The bank ended the first quarter with 103.4 million lei (EUR23.5 million) net profit and this was its best start of the year ever.
“There are two drivers for the share increase: the change in the ownership structure through the acquisitions by SIFs and the financial results of the bank. In the light of these two factors, investors are rewarding the bank with a better price on the stock market,” said Alin Brendea, deputy general manager of brokerage firm Prime Transaction.
The bank’s shares were trading for RON1.861 on Monday, which means the rise since the beginning of the year is 27%. Market capitalization stands at RON4.16 billion.
Compared with June 17, 2013, Banca Transilvania’s price has gone up 73%, the highest twelve-month growth rate among liquid shares traded on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The bank’s shares reached a high of RON1.9 on Thursday, June 12.
The trend comes at a time of significant transactions with Banca Transilvania shares in the last couple of months. Investors bought RON80.2 million worth of Banca Transilvania shares in deals, at an average price of RON1.82 over the last couple of months. Deals are negotiated and made on a separate segment of the Bucharest Stock Exchange and have a minimum requirement of EUR50,000. They are available to qualified investors and investment funds.
Brokers say the SIFs might be behind these deals as they are looking to consolidate their ownership in the largest Romanian-held bank. Three of the SIFs, Banat-Crisana, Moldova and Muntenia (SIF1.RO, SIF2.RO and SIF4.RO) own almost 20% in the bank together.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)