Brokers say the sellers are just cashing in profits, after Banca Transilvania shares have gained more than 40% since the beginning of the year and do not necessarily announce a share price trend reversal. Banca Transilvania is the third largest lender in Romania.
“SIF Moldova’s sale of Banca Transilvania shares has to do with cashing in the profit to end the year with a certain income to be able to pay dividends to its shareholders next year from,” said Marcel Murgoci, trading manager with brokerage firm Estinvest.
SIF Moldova, the second biggest shareholder of the bank with more than 8% in it sold 3.4 million shares on Friday, October 9, and collected more than 8.3 million lei (EUR1.9 million). The stake it sold accounts for 0.3% in the bank. Banca Transilvania is the biggest investment of SIF Moldova, accounting for 37% of its RON1.5 billion assets.
A couple of days before that, on October 7, Banca Transilvania’s vice chairman of the board Roberto Marco Marzanati had sold 150,000 shares for about RON350,000, which means a price per share of RON2.32.
Other sales by bank management were made in July. Radu Palagheanu, member of Banca Transilvania board of directors and one of its founders, sold more than 520,000 shares at an average price of about RON2.3 that month.
The seller of the biggest stake was Horia Ciorcila, the chairman of the bank, who sold about 1% early in June so he now owns 4.13% in the lender. Horia Ciorcila is the largest individual shareholder of Banca Transilvania. The reason for the sale, he said, was to repay a loan.
The most active buyers of Banca Transilvania shares were the bank itself via its repurchase program and the investment funds managed by the asset management unit of the Banca Transilvania group. Equity fund BT Maxim and index tracker BT Index ROTX were buyers of Transilvania shares in September.
The shareholders of the bank have recently approved its merger with Volksbank Romania. The lender estimates a 42% increase in the net loan volume to RON25 billion this year, following the merger with Volksbank Romania. Its total assets should increase to RON43.8 billion by yearend. (EUR1=RON4.4156)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)