Most shares of companies listed on BVB’s regular market have prices of below RON1 and are now traded in lots of 10 stocks, such in the case of Banca Transilvania, or 100 stocks, such as in the case of OMV Petrom.
Transactions with lower volumes are now operated on a separate segment of the market, called “odd-lot”.
However, starting December 2, the bourse wants to do away with the odd lot market segment and bring all the small sales onto the main market.
Following these changes, any individual will be able to become a stakeholder in OMV Petrom, for instance, for 43 bani, the price of a single share of the oil producer, compared to RON43, the current price of a lot of 100 shares.
“This is a move that will increase both the market’s liquidity and accessibility. All post-trading operations will be easier to conduct and this will also increase trading speed,” said Lucian Isac, the general manager of Estinvest brokerage.
“We are creating a situation, which is normal in developed markets, eliminating restrictions when it comes to the basic elements as the number of shares, bonds or other instruments the investor may wish to buy or sell. It allows for flexibility, lower cost, more freedom and faster reactions to changing market situations,” stated Ludwik Sobolewski, BVB chief executive officer in a press statement.
The recent move comes as BVB decided to relax floatation conditions for new issuers, in the hope of attracting new companies on the capital market. According to a recent bourse report, the average daily value of deals in October dropped by 30% on the month, to RON30.3 million.
Estinvest manager says, though, that these individual moves will not immediately translate into increased liquidity as we are speaking of a bigger “puzzle”.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)