Without BCR dividends SIFs' profits shrank in H1

Four of the five Financial Investment Companies (SIF) ended the first half of this year with total profits worth 166.6m RON, 2.7 times less than those posted in the first half of 2009, amid plunging dividend income.
With total wealth of above 7bn RON, the five SIFs are among the biggest asset managers on the domestic capital market and are at the top of the list for BSE investors.
Foreseeing the 2010 difficult economic context, SIFs have reorganised their strategy in a bid to successfully cope with falling dividend income, as the most important bank in the portfolio, BCR, did not award dividends from 2009 profit and the rest of companies in the portfolio announced dividends way below previous years' levels.
Nevertheless, the crisis did not leave SIFs' profits unscarred, with the companies witnessing declines by as much as 80% against the first half of last year.
The steepest profit slump was registered by SIF Transilvania, which gained 22.3m RON in the first half, 80% less than in the same period of last year.