The shares listed on the Stock Exchange are still the best investment option, but this trend has been even more obvious in 2004. The BET index, which mirrors the evolution of the main stocks listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, has climbed 29% since the beginning of the year, which almost equaled the earnings logged by the investors last year.
Investments in ROL-denominated banking deposits or T-bills have only yielded a 3-4% gain since the beginning of the year. Foreign currency placements, regarded as being among the safest options over the last few years, have no longer yielded gains, but losses.
Whereas those who made euro-denominated investments last year easily earned a 17,8% profit, without considering interests, the single European currency has brought a 2.8% loss so far this year. Late last year, one euro was worth 41,100 ROL, but it has stayed below the 40,000 ROL threshold over the last few weeks. A US dollar-denominated investment would have brought an insignificant loss during this interval, after the 2% drop registered last year. The US currency quotation was six ROL lower last Friday as compared to the value posted at the end of last year.
In early 2004, most analysts attributed the stock exchange leap to rising interest from the part of foreign investors, but increasingly more brokers are saying that the Romanian investors are now behind the market’s sustained growth. In the first two months of 2004 alone, foreign investors poured over 8 million dollars in the stock exchange, as compared to a monthly average of 2 million dollars last year. The average increase logged by the five financial investment companies (SIFs), which are among the most active stocks on the market, has come to 2% since the beginning of the year. Yet, in the case of four SIFs, the dividend distribution reference date has passed and investors holding their stock since the beginning of this year can count on an 8-9% gain after cashing in the dividends. However, for most of the listed companies, reference dates, which entitle stockholders to dividends, have not passed and brokers are expecting short-term drops for the companies that are yet to distribute dividends.
vlad.nicolaescu@zf.ro