During its first trading session on the stock market, shares in the financial intermediation company SSIF Broker from Cluj-Napoca were quoted at triple the price of the initial public offering launched for the company’s flotation. This was the first public offering for the stock of a brokerage firm on the Romanian stock exchange.
Investors were able to subscribe in the offering at a share price of 15,500 ROL. On Friday, after the stock began to be traded, the opening price stood at 40,000 ROL a share, with most of the stakes being transferred at about this price during the session.
“I thought the opening quotation would be around 35,000 ROL per share. The 40,000 price is a reasonable one for the beginning,” said Petru Prunea, SSIF Broker chairman.
He went on to say that he had made no recommendations to SSIF Broker customers to buy or sell the stock they held in the company in the period before trading started. “I did not recommend them to buy. I would have liked the price of the first session to be lower and then to rise subsequently. I did not make any recommendations with regard to prices. The only time was last summer, when I was preparing the offering, when I told them not to rush and sell when trading on the stock market begins,” said Prunea.
He also said that a price eight times the face value of the stock would be a normal one for SSIF Broker stock, since the banks listed on the stock market are traded at prices more than 12 times the face value.
On Friday SSIF Broker stock had very high liquidity, with almost 13% of the company’s share capital being transferred. The value of deals reached 3.2 million euros.
Before Friday’s session, no SSIF Broker shareholder held more than 6% in the company. The largest stake was controlled by Maria Istrate, a private investor, with around 6%, with other significant stakes being held by Ioan Cartis and businessman Alin Dicu, who controls the Romanian distribution companies for Ambipur, Kiwi, Douwe Egberts and Pickwick products. Dicu owned less than 5% in SSIF Broker stock before Friday’s session. Prunea owns 3% in SSIF Broker and made no purchase on Friday.
Last year SSIF Broker made net profits of over 58 billion ROL. In January, the company’s net profits were higher than for the previous January. SSIF Broker gains more from placements than from fees, with the general ratio being 10 to 1. catalin.ciocan@zf.ro