Three companies controlled by Varna-based business conglomerate TIM will dominate the blue chip index of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) after its updated on February 2. The BSE has decided to drop from the index, which tracks the public corporations with the biggest market capitalisation, sea resort Sunny Beach and welcome hydraulic equipment maker M+S Hidravlik, shipyard Odessos and TIM-owned holding company Chimimport. TIM controls a 25 per cent stake in Odessos. SOFIX component CCBank is majority-owned by Chimimport. The TIM companies will have roughly a 40 per cent weight in the SOFIX which could increase after the likely delisting of insurer DZI, noted market analysts. Sunny Beach flunks out on anemic trading volumes. The bourse reportedly decided to keep in the index another poorly traded tourist company, Golden Sands, because otherwise the industry will be represented by just one company, Albena AD. SOFIX components Bulgartabac Holding and cigarette maker Blagoevgrad BT have also been widely tipped as possible flunkers due to thin trading volumes. However, BSE sources said it would be advisable to keep the tobacco stocks among the blue chips in view of government's efforts to divest equity in some Bulgartabac subsidiaries on the bourse. Analysts were surprised that telco BTC, the public company with the biggest market capitalisation, is still not a SOFIX component. They dismiss the argument of the bourse that it would have a considerable weight in the index, pointing out that elsewhere the weight of corporations with massive capitalisation is simply capped off at, say, 20 per cent. The SOFIX may undergo a new revision in a couple of months, said Ivan Takev, chief of BSE trading and supervision. He said the bourse wants to increase the number of SOFIX components. In related news, BSE executive director Bistra Ilkova said the bourse is mulling over the launch of a new index.
Source: Dnevnik (22.01.2007)

The companies Chimimport, Ship-Repairing Plant Odesos and M+S Hydraulic will be included in SOFIX - the official index of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) from February 2. Companies such as Industrial Holding Bulgaria, Synergon and the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) may also find their place in the index. Surprisingly, BTC has remained beyond SOFIX as its capitalization is big and will greatly affect the motion of the index.
Source: Pari (22.01.2007)

The Bulgarian stock exchange said it is developing a new stock index that will track only public corporations traded on the official segment of the bourse. The index should provide a more accurate gauge of market movements as it will not be based on market capitalisation like the blue chip SOFIX. The other existing bourse index, the broader BG40, reflects the stock movements of the 40 most liquid companies.
Source: Dnevnik (23.01.2007)

The management of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) has approved a new line-up of the SOFIX, the index tracking the public corporations with the biggest market cap, increasing its components to 16. The move, cheered by the local investor fraternity, comes shortly after the SOFIX underwent an update in early February when tobacco monopoly Bulgartabac Holding, cigarette maker Blagoevgrad BT and sea resort Sunny Beach were dumped from the index. The BSE has decided to include in the SOFIX as of February 26 telecom BTC, Industrial Holding Bulgaria, fuel retailer Toplivo, Bulgarian American Credit Bank and real estate investment trust Elana Agricultural Land Opportunity Fund. Car battery maker Monbat will join the index on April 2. The BSE has also tightened the SOFIX component eligibility criteria. The market cap requirement is hiked from BGN 2 mln to BGN 50 mln and a requirement for a 10 per cent free float is introduced. The bourse has removed the requirement for the shares of each issue to be transacted at not less than 20 per cent of all trading sessions for the last 3 months. Each component will be required to have a minimum annual trading volume of 1,000 transaction with a combined value of at least BGN 5 mln. There is no change in the rule for a minimum of 500 shareholders. The bourse has also introduced a 15 per cent cap on the weight of each SOFIX component, a restriction that had so far kept BTC out of the index. It was feared the BGN 3 bln market cap of the telecom would distort the index readings. The restriction is likely to be applied to Chimimport soon which has reached a market cap of BGN 1.446 bln. With the latest additions, the combined market cap of the index is nearing BGN 10 bln. At its meeting last Friday, BSE decided to drop from the SOFIX Varna-based shipyard Odessos, saying the index was in danger of being overrun by companies affiliated with a single business conglomerate. Odessos was admitted to the index earlier this month.
Source: Dnevnik (12.02.2007)

M+S Hydraulic, the Bulgarian manufacturer of hydraulic motors, steering units, valves, brakes and accessories, posted an 8.7 per cent revenue increase for '06, shows the company's audited annual financial report. M+S Hydraulic said it plans to double revenue growth in '07. Net profit was fractionally higher at BGN 3.3 mln versus 3.2 a year ago while sales rose to BGN 58.4 mln from BGN 53.8 mln. The company exports 90 per cent of its output.
Source: Dnevnik (26.03.2007)

The private Bulgarian River Shipping Corporation (BRSC) will distribute 24 free shares per shareholder if a capital raise proposal is approved by the company's May 21 general meeting. If the proposal is successful, which would hike the capital 25 times from BGN 1.158 mln to BGN 28.95 mln, it will result in a share split, boosting the liquidity of company shares. BRSC is controlled by holding company Chimimport which owns 16.58 per cent of the river shipping company directly and another 76.81 per cent through subsidiary Bulgarian Ship Company. This will be BRSC's second capital hike in the past 6 months. In late 2006, the company raised its capital from BGN 895,400 to its current level.
Source: Dnevnik (02.04.2007)

M+S Hydraulic and Hydraulic Elements & Systems (HES), which are part of Stara Planina Hold's portfolio, have increased their market capitalisation by 179% and 196% for the past 12 months. A year ago the market assessed the two companies at BGN 41.138 million and BGN 23.893 million; today investors are ready to pay nearly BGN 115 million for M+S Hydraulic and BGN 70.683 million for HES. HES's shares have risen from BGN 9.12 to BGN 26.03 for a year, i.e. by 185.41%. The shares of M+S Hydraulic have jumped by 178.48%, from BGN 3.16 to BGN 8.80.
Source: Pari (12.04.2007)

The profit of Bulgaria's M+S Hydraulic for the first quarter of 2007 increased by more than BGN 400,000 (32%), year on year, reaching BGN 1.827 million, the non-consolidated report of the company shows. For the year-ago period, the company posted a BGN 1.382 million profit. The revenue of the Kazanlak-based manufacturer of hydraulic elements and system jumped by more than BGN 4 million to BGN 18.825 million. The good results are mainly due to the revenue from product sales, which increased by BGN 3 million. The expenses of M+S Hydraulic also went up, year on year, from BGN 13.002 million to BGN 16.795 million at the end of March 2007.
Source: Pari (27.04.2007)

Local holding company Stara Planina Hold AD has unveiled the blueprints for the development of its key subsidiaries over the mid-term. Stara Planina Hold company Hydraulic Elements and Systems (HES) has already announced a capital raise that will fund the 5-year program for its technological and organisational development with total cost of BGN 37.5 mln. The company will use debt and its own cash resources as additional financing for the program. The annual production capacity of the plant will be increased from 150,000 to 330,000 hydraulic devices by 2011. Sales are seen more than doubling over the next half a decade to BGN 104 mln. HES is set to hike its capital from BGN 2.6 mln to BGN 3.04 mln through the issue of 419,000 new share with a nominal value of BGN 1 and issue price of BGN 19.75. The holding company plans to further develop the synergies between HES and M+S Hydraulic, the manufacturer of hydraulic motors, steering units, valves, brakes and accessories. Stara Planina Hold said the products of its sock manufacturing subsidiary Fazan will be upmarketed while Balragska Roza, a subsidiary producing essential oils, will start exports to China. The holding also plans to modernise its starters and traction batteries plant Elhim Iskra in Pazardjik. The holding company could convert into capital its retained earnings in a bid to boost its liquidity on the Bulgarian stock exchange, said Vasil Velev, executive director of the former privatisation fund. The proposal will be put to a vote at a June 15 general meeting of shareholders. The capital of the company stands at BGN 1.75 mln while undistributed profits from prior years total BGN 18.4 mln, shows the consolidated financial report for the period ended December 31, 2006.
Source: Dnevnik (03.05.2007)

M+S Hydraulic JSC - Kazanluk, Bourse code MCH, the annual general meeting of which was held on May 18, 2007, will distribute gross dividend for the year 2006 to the amount of BGN 0.086 (net dividend – BGN 0.07998). M+S Hydraulic JSC - Kazanluk reported a profit for 2006 in the amount of BGN 3,341,000.
Source: Capital market (22.05.2007)

A Jun 15 general meeting of shareholders of former privatisation fund Stara Planina Hold will vote on a proposal to distribute among themselves 11 free shares each. The holding company intends to increase its capital 12 times from BGN 1.75 mln to BGN 21 mln through the issue of 19.25 mln new shares. The company will convert into capital fund reserves and undistributed earnings. According to the holding's consolidated financial report, retained earnings stood at BGN 18.8 mln towards the end of '06. Sales rose to BGN 21.1 mln in the first quarter of '07 versus BGN 16.7 mln a year ago while net profit increased to BGN 1.8 mln from BGN 761,000.
Source: Dnevnik (04.06.2007)

Only five of the 16 companies included in the calculation of the Sofix blue-chip index of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) will pay dividends in 2007. The Bulgarian American Credit Bank (BACB), the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC), M+S Hydraulic, Petrol and Sopharma have decided to distribute dividend. The shareholders of BTC will decide next week how much of the company's BGN 283 million profit for 2006 will be distributed as dividend. Sopharma's board of directors decided to distribute BGN 13.2 million of the company's BGN 22.034 million profit for 2006 as dividend. Sopharma's capital is distributed in 132 million shares, which means that the gross dividend per share will stand at BGN 0.1. The general shareholders' meeting is scheduled for June 26. The shareholders of M+S Hydraulic have already decided to allocate 1.12 million or 34% of the company's profit for 2006 for dividend distribution. The shareholders will be paid BGN 0.08 dividend per share. Dividend will be paid between August 17 and November 16 through the Central Depositary and International Asset Bank. BACB will pay BGN 0.75 gross dividend per share to its shareholders. A total BGN 9,468,543 of BACB's BGN 33.686 million profit for 2006 will be distributed as dividend. Payments started on may 31. Petrol's general shareholders' meeting was held on Monday. The shareholders had to decide whether 50% of the BGN 16.853 million profit should be allocated for dividend distribution. The company did not disclose information on the decisions taken at the meeting. The remaining eleven companies within the Sofix will reinvest their 2006 profit, a survey of the Pari daily shows.
Source: Pari (12.06.2007)

Industrial Capital Holding (ICH) posted BGN 101,000 loss for the second quarter of 2007, compared to BGN 391,000 profit a year earlier. The poor result may be put down to the unreceived dividends from the companies in which the holding owns stakes. ICH holds stakes in nine companies, including Emka, M+S Hydraulic and ZMM Metalik. ICH's dividend revenue totalled BGN 507,000 as at the end of June 2006, while the operating revenue of the holding amounted to BGN 522,000. Only three months later the dividend revenue totalled BGN 3.810 million, while non-consolidated profit jumped to BGN 3.655 million. Two years ago dividend revenue accounted for BGN 145,000 of ICH's BGN 156,000 operating revenu
Source: Pari (10.07.2007)

The 1H profit of M+S Hydraulic has increased nearly 30% year-on-year, reaching 2.94 mln leva (1.503 mln euros), compared with 2.27 mln leva (1.160 mln euros) a year ago, shows the company's non-consolidated report. That equals 0.23 leva per share. Rtevenues climb 28% to 37.34 mln leva (19.091 mln euros) in the first six months of the year, against 29.17 mln leva (14.914 mln euros) in the respective period a year ago. The company posts a significant increase under „Other Revenues“ which surge from 148,000 leva (75,671 euros) last year, to 1.83 mln leva (935,664 euros) as of June 2007. Costs rise 28.5%, mainly due to rising costs in the core cativity. The comapny's stock was among the most liquid ones on the BSE during the firts six months of the year. More than 540,000 shares changed hands in 2,155 deals over the period. 230 shares have been transferred so far today on the BSE, adding 0.4% to an average price of 11 leva/share. The price of the stock has increased 56.8% over the past year, and 23% over the past six months.
Source: Other (30.07.2007)

Mid-week was a turning point for the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) indexes. Riding the bullish crest, the Sofix rose by 1.42% to 1,878.24 points, after 12 blue chips recorded a successful trade session. M+S Hydraulic took the lead with a 9.03-percent increase to 15.70 points. The broader BG40 index of the most traded stocks gained 2.47% to 572.63 points. BGTR30 of the best performers in total return was also a winner, adding 1.45% to its value and reaching 1,175.98 points. BGREIT of real estate investment trusts posted more moderate gains but still went up by 0.21% to 102.72 points. Unipack achieved a 30-percent rise to BGN 236.08 per share. Orgachim jumped by 2.40% and will start trade on Thursday at BGN 753.20. Montana-based starter battery maker Monbat continued its victorious march, rising by 1.59% to BGN 31.41. Zaharni Zavodi of Gorna Oryahovitsa was among the loss-makers, dropping by 2.09% to BGN 27.56. Sparky Eltos could not clear the red barrier and fell by 1.02% to BGN 16.43.
Source: Pari (08.11.2007)