Dividend and Staying on the Stock Exchange Will Attract Investors to Viro?

The Zagreb Stock Exchange is expected to see calm trading today, as there are not many investors in the market, nor any business news to stimulate more active trading.

All 6 analysts from brokerage firms who participated in the Hina survey expect stagnation of the Crobex today. The Crobex index strengthened by 0.08 percent yesterday, to 1,727 points, while the Crobex10 weakened by 0.28 percent, to 966 points.

Regular trading volume amounted to 6.1 million kuna, which is double the amount from Monday, when trading was shortened.

“Today, I do not expect a large trading volume in the domestic market, and the Crobex indices could also stagnate. Additionally, we are still in the holiday period, so many investors are absent from the market, and there are no business news to trigger significant investor activity,” says Boris Mažurin, an analyst in the Economic Research Department of Hypo Alpe Adria Bank.

He adds that there could be nervousness on foreign exchanges today due to the uncertainty of negotiations in Washington regarding the U.S. budget. On Wall Street, stock prices fell for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday, albeit slightly, as the announcement of the House of Representatives session on Sunday sparked hope for an agreement between Republicans and Democrats on reducing the U.S. budget.

The Dow Jones index weakened by 0.14 percent, while the S&P 500 slid by 0.12, and the Nasdaq index by 0.14 percent. In Asian and European markets, stock prices, however, rose slightly this morning.

“The stock of Vira could come into somewhat greater focus for investors in the domestic market, after the proposal by the Management Board to delist the stock from the exchange was rejected at the main shareholders’ meeting. At the same time, a decision was made regarding the dividend, which provides a dividend yield of 3.9 percent,” notes Mažurin.

The main shareholders’ meeting of Viro Sugar Factory did not accept the Management Board’s proposal to withdraw the company’s shares from the Regulated Market of the Zagreb Stock Exchange yesterday, but the proposal for a dividend payment of 20 kuna per share from retained earnings from 2011 was accepted.

Additionally, the State Bureau of Statistics will publish a report today on industrial production in November. Five macroeconomists who participated in the Hina survey estimate that, on average, industrial production in November fell by 5.8 percent compared to the same month last year. All expect a decline in the range of 5 to 7 percent.