Broker Cluj profits go down with the market

SSIF Broker, the largest independent brokerage company on the stock exchange, has reported gross profits of 83 billion ROL (2.24 million euros) for the first three months of the year, 5.3 billion ROL higher than the entire profits generated in 2004.

The profits were not shared equally for each of the three months, however. After the strong growth on the capital market in January and February, which brought Broker gains of 73.1 billion ROL (1.9 million euros), the deep plunge on the market pushed the company”s profits down to 9.9 billion ROL (340,000 euros) in March.

“Lower profits in March are normal given the drops the market has been experiencing since late February,” said Petru Prunea, chairman of SSIF Broker.

“In March we managed to derive value from certain positions and created conditions for solid results in the following period, as well,” he added.

SSIF broker is the only brokerage listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, which took place through a public primary offering earlier this year with a value of 1.4 million euros.

This year SSIF Broker plans to generate gross profits of 170 billion ROL (4.6 million euros), 140% higher as compared to 2004. “We hope to hit the target we”ve set, and to achieve this we are working with stocks that have a high growth potential, and less with blue chips,” said Prunea.

In the first three months of the year SSIF Broker handled transfers worth 76.5 million euros, ranking it third among brokerage firms on the stock market with a market share of 5.95%. In March, the Cluj-based company fell to sixth position due to transactions worth 14.3 million euros and a market share of 4.3%.