Brokerages are having their best year since the Bucharest Stock Exchange resumed its activity in 1996.
In the first five months of this year, most brokers completed transactions with a value almost equal to that of the transactions intermediated during the whole of 2003. The first brokerages have already finalised transactions worth $20-50 million.
Overall, the value of stock transactions on the bourse in the first five months of this year came to $270 million, as compared to $320 million in the whole of 2003 and $213 million in 2002.
The prospect of double turnover this year comes hot on the heels of 2003, itself a year of historical highs both in terms of prices and the value of transactions.
"This is undoubtedly the best year in the history of the bourse. In the first five months our business volume was as high as in the entire last year, and the money keeps flowing. The monthly average value of transactions is double in comparison to year 2003," says Rares Nilas, general manager of BT Securities, the securities firm owned by Banca Transilvania.
"We have already exceeded last year's revenues. Our profit outlook is also positive, but against last year our costs are higher because we have diversified our services. The number of our employees, for instance, doubled in relation to last year," says Dragos Neacsu, chairman of Raiffeisen Capital & Investment.
Alpha Finance Romania, with a value of intermediated transactions of about $50 million, ranks first among brokerage firms in the first five months of this year (stocks only). Next comes Broker Cluj, with about $40 million, Raiffeisen and BRD Securities (some $30 million), ING Securities ($25 million), Vanguard ($23 million) and BT Securities ($21 million).
The main income source for brokerages is the trading fee they levy their customers for purchase and sale operations. Fees vary depending upon the company and the customer, but at the level of the entire market the average fee stands at 1%.
vlad.nicolaescu@Zf.ro ; laurentiu.ispir@zf.ro
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