Non-resident $3.5m purchases on BSE in April

Foreign investors invested another $3.5 million in Romanian securities listed on the Stock Exchange. April was the second month in a row when non-residents bought more than they sold.
Net investments by non-residents in March were worth $18.3 million, primarily because of two public takeover bids.
April saw no such bids; nevertheless non-residents bought more than $20 million’s worth again. Sales, however, rose from $3 million to $20 million.
One of the reasons for the high value of the shares transferred by foreigners, which accounted for over 60% of the total operations on the market was a reorganisation of the stakes held within the Marco group, the main shareholder of aluminium plant Alro Slatina. Marco Industries BV bought 9.8% in Alro from Marco Industries.
Both parties are foreign investors, and the transfer was worth $17.4 million. The stake was transferred on the Stock Exchange through a single deal.
The remaining transactions concluded by non-residents were just regular transactions on the market. The sellers probably included Romanian Investment Company investment fund, whose life span is due to end in late this year, and therefore sells its Banca Transilvania stake.
Sources on the market say that the main buyers are foreign investors, again, as they also bought shares from the market besides RIC’s stakes. The transfers involving Banca Transilvania shares were among the most significant ones in terms of value, given the several deals registered. The increase in price was somewhat harder to notice – due to the distribution of bonus shares, which pushed the quote down, yet the market capitalisation of the bank improved.
The other shares on the Stock Exchange to have caught the foreign investors’ eye include those of the largest listed companies such as Petrom and Banca Romana pentru Dezvoltare (Romanian Development Bank), along with the drugmakers’ shares. vlad.nicolaescu@zf.ro