Of the three SIFs (Financial Investment Companies) that have submitted preliminary financial results for last year, only SIF Oltenia displayed a strong growth in profits compared with 2003.
Nonetheless, the general growth among SIFs continued on the Bucharest Stock Exchange on Wednesday, when they climbed by an average of 4.3% from the previous day. Market capitalisation for the SIFs is close to matching the value of their assets.
SIF Oltenia reported preliminary net profits of 689 billion ROL (18.15 million euros) for 2004, up 140% in ROL on the previous year. The company's profits equate to 1,189 ROL for each share, about 10% of the stock's value on the market.
SIF Banat-Crisana and SIF Moldova last year saw their earnings drop 17% on 2003. However, SIF Banat Crisana made a profit of 402.8 billion ROL (10.6 million euros) in 2004, the equivalent of 734 ROL per share, while SIF Moldova ended the year with profits of 458 billion ROL (12 million euros) or 883 ROL per share.
The surging prices for SIFs are indicative of the general trend on the stock exchange. Of the three financial investment companies to report preliminary results, SIF Oltenia was the best performer this year with growth of 35% in only two and a half weeks, compared to the 26% growth shown by the BET-FI index, which reflects the evolution of SIFs. SIF Oltenia shares traded for 11,600 ROL on Wednesday, up 4.5% on the previous day.
SIF Moldova and SIF Banat-Crisana concluded no major transactions last year, with the bulk of profits coming from dividends.
vlad.nicolaescu@zf.ro
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