Traded values during the summer were considerably low, which caused several key brokerage firms to exit the market, IFB Finwest broker Mihai Chisu told Mediafax. He expects the situation will see no improvement in 2013.
Nine brokers exited or announced they would exit the market this year. The number of brokerage firms and banks present on the brokerage market dropped to 51.
Ovidiu Fer, analyst at Czech brokerage firm Wood&Company, expects more brokers will cease operations on the local market next year.
In 2011, the Bucharest bourse fell by about 16%, after increases in two consecutive years. At the beginning of 2012, companies that paid out dividends were in the spotlight and their shares traded up. Amid weeks of political unrest this summer, investors lost their enthusiasm and many of them decided to exit the market, with the Bucharest stock exchange registering a significant decline in traded values. Share trades amounted to 7.4 billion lei (EUR1.6 billion) in 2012, down 25% on the year.
Composite index BET-C gained 6.28% in 2012, after an almost 16% drop last year. Blue chip index BET and the BET-FI index, which tracks the five regional investment funds (SIFs) and Fondul Proprietatea (FP.RO) increased 18% and 32%, respectively.
The increases reflect investors’ interest in SIFs, oil company OMV Petrom (SNP.RO), Proprietatea and natural gas distributor Transgaz (TGN.RO), which paid significant dividends from profits obtained in 2011.
Mihai Caruntu, the head of lender BCR’s capital market research department, believes the evolution of the Bucharest bourse next year will be influenced by the leu-euro exchange rate. Investors will also judge Romania by the way it reins in its public debt, Caruntu believes.
Intercapital Invest trading manager Mihai Muresian said the Bucharest stock market will see no major increases in 2013, despite the local market’s high growth potential. He highlighted that the market’s lack of liquidity will affect prices. (EUR1=RON4.4291)