Stock Prices of Adrisa and Podravka Rise

A slight increase in liquidity on the Zagreb Stock Exchange resulted in a significant jump in the index today, with stocks of Adrisa and Podravka achieving a somewhat higher price increase. The Crobex index at 12:00 PM was at 2,169 points, which is 0.72 percent higher than the previous trading day, while Crobex10 reached 1,176 points, recording a gain of 0.94 percent.

Regular trading volume was 35 million kuna, što je 9 milijuna manje nego jučer u ovo doba."There is a true spring mood in the domestic market. Increased liquidity today has prompted a stronger rise in stock indices, and with investors focusing on the shares of Zagrebačka pivovara, T-HT, and Adrisa, a significant price increase is also recorded for Podravka shares," emphasizes Stjepan Laća, broker and investment advisor at the investment company Finesa Capital.

The highest trading volume so far was achieved by the shares of Zagrebačka pivovara, amounting to 20 million kuna, with its price unchanged at 3,791.3 kuna. The next in liquidity is T-HT shares, which recorded a trading volume of 6.6 million kuna. Its price strengthened by 1.16 percent, to 329.9 kuna. Following is the preferred share of Adrisa, which achieved a trading volume of 2.1 million kuna. Its price rose by 2.16 percent, to 297 kuna.

The shares of Ina, on the other hand, achieved nearly 1.5 million kuna in trading volume, and its price increased by 1.31 percent, to 1,782 kuna. Meanwhile, the management of Ina announced a call for the General Assembly of shareholders, which will be held on May 18, with among other items on the agenda, a proposal for the issuance of convertible bonds in the amount of 1.5 billion kuna. The right to subscribe to these bonds will be held by majority shareholders – MOL and the Croatian government.

The assembly also proposed a decision on the conditional increase of the share capital, which specifies that "in order to realize the creditors’ right to exchange convertible bonds for ordinary shares with a nominal value of 900 kuna, the current share capital of Ina, which amounts to nine billion kuna, will be increased by a total amount of 900 kuna multiplied by the number of shares issued upon the exchange of convertible bonds (conditional increase of share capital)." Along with the decisions on the issuance of convertible bonds and the conditional increase of share capital, the general assembly also proposed a decision on covering last year’s loss of Ina d.d. – a loss of 631.35 million kuna would be covered from retained earnings of 343.46 million kuna, and the remaining 287.89 million kuna from other reserves of the company.

By noon, the shares of Dalekovod also entered the millionaire club, with its price weakening by 0.66 percent, to 360 kuna. In somewhat greater focus today are also the shares of Validus, which achieved a trading volume of 835 thousand kuna, while their price is currently up by 0.11 percent, to 26.68 kuna. During the morning, it even exceeded 29 kuna."Statements by the owner of the Fia group, Ranko Mimović, about acquiring 10.6 percent of Podravka shares from Fima and the announcement of an investment of 240 million euros in Validus and Pluris, or generally in the Fima group and indirectly in Podravka, have sparked somewhat greater investor interest in the shares of that Koprivnica food industry, as well as Validus," notes Laća. The price of Podravka shares increased by 2.62 percent, to 341 kuna, and during the morning reached 355 kuna. The trading volume exceeded 450,000 kuna.

On foreign exchanges, however, after yesterday’s positive sentiment, caution among investors has returned. "Later in the day, the results of the auction of U.S. government bonds will provide guidance to investors on foreign exchanges. Currently, the yield on 10-year U.S. bonds is close to 4 percent, and is at its highest levels in the last two years. If interest rates continue to rise at today’s and tomorrow’s auction, it will mean that inflationary expectations among investors are strengthening, which could be a signal for the Fed to gradually tighten monetary policy," emphasizes Laća. Currently, the most important indices on European exchanges are slightly negative, as the latest data on the eurozone’s gross domestic product shows that its economy stagnated in the last quarter of last year compared to the previous period.  (H)