Worst Investments On Stock Market In 2012

BET, which tracks the ten most traded shares, is up 11% this year, while BET-FI, which follows the evolution of the five regional investment funds (SIFs) and Fondul Proprietatea (FP.RO), rose 27%.

On the other hand, the general stock market index, BET-C, which tracks all the shares on the main market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange minus the SIFs, was flat this year, which shows the shares of the small companies were the hardest hit in 2012.

The companies in the construction sector, Cemacom Zalau (CEON.RO) and Concefa Sibiu (COFI.RO), witnessed the worst decline, as did two industrial companies, Mechel Targoviste (COS.RO) and Electroputere Craiova (EPT.RO). Construction and industry are, after all, the worst hit sectors in the economy in the last few years, and the negative results of the companies in these sectors made an impact on their share price.

The four companies are also among those that posted the highest losses in the first nine months, along with Oltchim (OLT.RO), Impact (IMP.RO), Dafora (DAFR.RO), Condmag (COMI.RO) and Turbomecanica (TBM.RO).

All of them have had problems for a while and many were also among those that saw the worst declines on the stock market last year.

Anyone who would have invested in the stocks with the steepest declines in 2011 would have stood high chances of losing at least 25% of their investment. The only shares that bounced back this year were Erste (EBS.RO), up 77%, and Prefab (PREH.RO), up 38%.

The worst investments of 2012 also include the companies that disappointed investors by posting lower profit for various reasons this year. Alro (ALR.RO) and Electromagnetica (ELMA.RO) were hurt by the renegotiation of the Hidroelectrica contracts, to which, in case of Alro, the decline in the aluminum price was added; BRD (BRD.RO) witnessed a surge in provisions, while fraud scandals in recent months affected investors’ confidence. Transelectrica (TEL.RO) was again dragged down by its financial costs, while the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB.RO) missed all this year’s targets because of the postponement of the government’s public offerings.

The highest increase on the stock market this year came from Artego Targu Jiu (ARTE.RO), 261%. Anyone who would have invested 50% of their money in Artego and 50% in Cemacon (-60%) would still have tripled their investment.

(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)

Worst declines since the start of 2012

Worst declines in 2011