SIFs see $35m profit

The five financial investment companies (SIF) announced 1,170 billion ROL ($35m) total net profits in the half-year. Four of the SIFs posted earnings ranging between 229 and 275 billion ROL. SIF Moldova, the fifth company, logged only 140 billion ROL profits, after having lost several lawsuits against Bankcoop.

SIF assets maintained roughly the same level at the Bucharest Stock Exchange this summer and brokers claim they could bring some gains to investors by yearend. “The five financial investment companies posted good results and I think that, by yearend, their stocks will bring greater profits than a bank deposit. Besides, the situation of SIF Moldova is not as tragic as it might seem,” said Grigore Chis, transaction manager of SSIF Broker.

However, SIF Moldova shares have been posting a downtrend lately. The quotation amounted to 2,350 ROL/share on Monday, down from 2,550 ROL/share at the beginning of the year. The financial investment company had initially planned to post 288 billion ROL profit this year and to distribute gross dividend worth 490 ROL/share. The first half of the year is crucial for the profit of investment companies, especially due to the dividends distributed by banks. But SIF Moldova has not even achieved half of the scheduled budget.

SIF Moldova chairman Alexandru Matei feels it is too early to tell whether the company will eventually manage to reach the profit targets.

SIF Muntenia has yielded the heftiest gains for investors since the beginning of the year. The company made significant profit this spring, by selling its stake in cement company Romcim to French company Lafarge. Bigger profit appealed to investors, as it amounted to 274 billion ROL after the first seven months of the year. vlad.nicolaescu@zf.ro