Broker Cluj banks on more profitable transactions and doubling profits

Broker Cluj (BBK), one of the biggest brokerages on the market
and the only one listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, estimates
it will derive 92% higher gross income this year, of 8.05m RON
(almost 2m euros). Part of the increase would come from the sale of
stocks in its portfolio, with the gap between estimated sales
prices and the prices at which the shares are recorded in Broker’s
portfolio standing at 3.5m RON (0.85m euros) this year. The
reassessment of stock in the portfolio would also bring profits of
around 4.5m RON. Broker Cluj also expects to collect dividends
worth 1.6m RON from the companies it holds stakes in, half the
value of last year, 3.1m RON, given that here many listed companies
have already announced lower dividends or have even given them up.
The company also banks on rising revenues from the core business,
the handling of deals on the Bucharest and Sibiu markets, in the
context where liquidity on the two markets gave signs of a rebound
in the first months of the year. In the first two months of 2010,
Broker Cluj made net income worth around 878,000 RON (214,000
euros), compared with a negative figure of 1.92m RON (0.44m euros)
a year ago.