Will financial investment companies still have money for dividends?

Three financial investment companies (SIF Banat-Crisana, SIF Moldova, and SIF Transilvania) have budgeted 252 million RON (over 60 million euros) in cumulated investments, but expect significant revenue declines. Therefore, next year's dividends are increasingly doubtful, after in the last few years investors have had to fight over every penny collected from SIFs.

The heads of the five financial investment companies are seeking to change strategies as they go along, after concluding that they cannot count on dividends from BCR and BRD as they did before. They are now turning more towards the capital market and promising shareholders they will seek to take advantage more of Stock Exchange opportunities, via speculative transactions.

The main portfolio restructuring directions targeted by SIF heads are boosting investments in liquid shares and selling illiquid stakes in non-listed companies, which have prevented the value of portfolios from growing over the past few years, in addition to being one of the reasons for which SIFs' capitalisation accounts for less than half their net assets.