In only three months since signing the privatisation contract for the National Oil Company (SNP) Petrom, the Austrian group OMV has already made profits of 450 million euros from the Romanian company. This profit appears only on paper, however, since in practice OMV has not yet received a single Petrom share, has not yet paid out any money and has not enforced any decisions in company operations.
The price of Petrom on the Bucharest Stock Exchange has climbed 20% since the privatisation contract was signed and the stock taken over by OMV at a price of 2,158 ROL/share is now worth 2,800 ROL/share.
The gains seen so far could cover two thirds of the amount due for payment this month for the acquisition of 33.34% of Petrom shares of 669 million euros. OMV is also scheduled to participate in a capital increase, subscribing more than 16 billion Petrom shares in order to see its stake go up to 51%. The Austrian group will pay the same price per share in the capital increase as it will in the first stage of the privatisation process. OMV will thus buy 29 billion shares at 2,158 ROL each, although each share is now worth 2,800 ROL.
According to market brokers, the recent surge in Petrom stock happened precisely because of the news that OMV is the new main shareholder in the company, replacing the Romanian State. "The price of Petrom shares has gone up precisely due to the transaction between the State and OMV. I believe that the increase is also connected to the country report of the European Commission, which granted Romania the status of functioning market economy," explained Rares Nilas, head of BT Securities, Banca Tansilvania's brokerage company.
In the meantime, the capital market absorbed a 0.6% stake in Petrom that was sold by SIF Oltenia, a financial investment company. However, the company will be allowed to buy back the stake at a lower price, during the upcoming capital increase.
The increase in Petrom shares took place only after the reference date, which entitled the minority shareholders of the company to subscribe shares at a lower price than market quotations. In theory, the stock price was supposed to go down after that date. In the market for Petrom shares in recent years, prices have always gone up whenever a bigger stake emerged on the market, thanks to foreign investors rushing to buy stock.
Most brokers at the Bucharest Stock Exchange believe investment in Petrom shares will be highly profitable in the long run, and few expected such sudden price surges. "I was expecting the stock to go up, but not quite so soon because it is too early to estimate the effect of the takeover by OMV. Petrom is certainly more valuable with OMV as its shareholder. State-owned companies have in the past proved riskier due to the state's management policy, which is not always efficiency-oriented and causes more uncertainties," said Razvan Pasol, president of Intercapital Invest brokerage company.
vlad.nicolaescu@zf.ro ; adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro
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