Broker, 2.3m-euro profit in five months

SSIF Broker Cluj, one of the largest independent brokerage firms on the Stock Exchange, made 1.5bn ROL (41.000 euro) profit in May, compared with one billion ROL (28,000 euro) in the previous month. Broker”s gross profit for the first five months of the year amounts to some 86.1bn ROL (2.3 million euros). Most of the profit (nearly 2 million euros) was made in the first two months of the year due to the good performance of the Bucharest Stock Exchange in that period. Broker”s profit has been following the capital market trend since March, considering listed shares make up the better part of the company”s portfolio. “The financial results achieved thus far are good, and the profit has resumed an upward trend now that the market has slightly rebounded in the last four weeks, as have the stocks in our portfolio. We are hoping for a market rebound and an increase in profits for the second half of the year,” commented Petru Prunea (photo), SSIF Broker”s chairman. The company set out to attain 170bn ROL (4.6 million euro) gross profit in 2005, up 140% from 2004. Broker”s portfolio underwent some minor changes in May, with the percentage of listed shares dropping to 78.6% from 82.4% and the RASDAQ exposure increasing from 16.5% to 20%. ZF