Končar EI Transactions Revive Crobex

Today, trading on the Zagreb Stock Exchange saw a significant increase, primarily due to the transaction involving shares of Končar Elektroindustrija, and the Crobex indices recovered this morning’s losses, showing a positive trend around noon.

At 12:00 PM, the Crobex index was up 0.39 percent, at 1,777 points, while Crobex10 was up 0.59 percent, at 998 points. Regular trading reached 20.8 million kuna, which is approximately ten times higher than yesterday at the same time. This strong surge in trading is attributed to the transaction involving shares of Končar Elektroindustrija, conducted around noon, amounting to 17.14 million kuna. Meanwhile, the price of that share increased by 3.89 percent, to 630 kuna. The shares of Zagrebačka banka are also in greater focus for investors, with a trading volume of 781,000 kuna and a slight price increase of 0.21 percent, to 38.05 kuna.

– Indices are stagnating today, and alongside the shares of Končar Elektroindustrija, the shares of Zagrebačka banka are also in the spotlight for investors due to the announced voluntary offer to acquire the remaining shares of Istraturist, which are not yet in its ownership, says Lav Bernfest, an analyst in the Economic Research Department of Hypo Alpe Adria Bank.

Let us recall that the management of Istraturist announced on Wednesday morning that it plans to propose the withdrawal of shares from stock exchange listing at the shareholders’ meeting on December 7, and to offer remaining shareholders a fair price of 116.5 kuna per share.

At the end of trading on the same day, Zagrebačka banka reported that it intends to announce a voluntary offer to acquire shares of Istraturist at a price of 156 kuna per share. Zagrebačka banka is the majority owner of Istraturist, holding 71.8 percent of the shares.

– A very interesting strategy by the majority owner of Istraturist aimed at acquiring as many remaining shares of that Istrian tourism company as possible, assesses Bernfest. He adds that the latest downgrade in estimates regarding the domestic economy has not significantly affected sentiment in the domestic market.

According to the Regional Economic Forecasts published this morning, the regular quarterly report of the EBRD indicates that this year, the economy of Croatia will record a decline of 1.9 percent, while a decline of 1.2 percent was expected in the report from three months ago.

– Most market participants have been expecting that this year the GDP decline rate will be around 2 percent, so they are not surprised, says Bernfest. The shares of Podravka are also in greater focus for investors, with a trading volume of just over half a million kuna, and its price decreased by 1.35 percent, to 265 kuna. The shares of HT, on the other hand, recorded a slight price increase of 0.03 percent, to 212 kuna, with a trading volume of 350,000 kuna.