The banks quoted on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) established themselves as some of the best-selling stocks in 2009, official data show. Two of the five public banks have been traditionally among the top three stocks in liquidity for the past nine months. The biggest number of deals in the last quarter of 2009 were closed in Central Cooperative Bank's (CCB) stock. A touch above 7 million shares changed hands in 5,506 deals. Eurohold Bulgaria was second with 2.75 million lots sold in 2,951 deals. First Investment Bank (FIB) came third with nearly 2.1 million shares transferred in 2,658 deals. Bank shares enjoy high liquidity, because they are quality stocks, Konstantin Abrashev of BenchMark Asset Management said. The higher liquidity of banks is due to investors' unwillingness to take more risk, so they focus mainly on the blue chips, Daniel Dimitrov of Real Finance Asset Management pointed out. All public banks except for EIBank are included in the Sofix index of blue chips. Throughout 2009 FIB remained among the three best performers in liquidity, while CCB was fifth in the first quarter of the year. CCB climbed three positions up in April-June, second only to its majority owner Chimimport. In the third quarter of the year CCB and Chimimport switched places and FIB remained third. Bulgarian banks continue to perform better than their peers in Eastern Europe, which boosts interest in their stocks, Daniel Dimitrov explained. Banks are among the first companies to attract the attention of both native and foreign institutional investors, Konstantin Abrashev commented. CCB and FIB, which are among the few remaining predominantly Bulgarian-owned banks, may lure foreign institutional investors, analysts said. There was such interest in early 2009, when Oman's State General Reserve Fund acquired 30% of Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) (1.8 million shares) from the bank's majority owner, Bromak. Such deals are unlikely for CCB and FIB this year, because the majority shareholders will hardly be willing to sell bigger packages at the current prices, Konstantin Abrashev said. While trade volumes in Bulgaria remain low, we are unlikely to witness such big deals as KTB's, Daniel Dimitrov commented.
Source: Pari (14.01.2010)

Bulgarian lenders have moved from an all-out deposit war into deposit retreat, with eleven players shaving rates and three scrapping promotions in December. Meanwhile, the credit market ground to a complete standstill. Financial consultancy Moite Pari said in its monthly review that rates have been slashed in all three major currencies including the lev, euro and the US dollar. The list of financial institutions that have tweaked deposit offers features Bulgarian American Credit Bank, Raiffeisenbank, First Investment Bank (FIBank), Postbank, UniCredit Bulbank, United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), Societe Generale Expressbank, Emporiki Bank, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank and CIBank. Rates have been chopped off by between 0.25 and 1.55 percentage points, with return on three-month term deposits lapsing back into March 2009 levels. As the market searches for a direction, rates range between 4% and 8% annually across lenders.
Source: Dnevnik (14.01.2010)

The new candidate directors of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) will manage to beat the incumbents at Wednesday's general meeting, vote calculations show. The ministry of finance, with 44% of the capital, holds the trump card. The big obstacle to the approval of the new board of directors is BSE's fragmented shareholder structure, with only a few investors holding more than 1%. Big investment intermediaries will back up the change, since that will give them strong representation on the board of directors: the chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Licensed Investment Intermediaries, Lyubomir Boyadzhiev, is nominated for a seat. Commercial banks will give their support in the vote, as they are offered to keep a key member, Asen Yagodin. Three banks are among the big shareholders in BSE. UniCredit Bulbank holds 119,800 shares, Central Cooperative Bank and First Investment bank have 80,000 shares each. Their total interest is a touch below 5% and, added to the votes of intermediaries, secures the crucial 51%. The likely election of new directors, however, will not be the end of changes at the BSE. The strong representation of investment intermediaries has made other market players seek place in BSE's management. The board should include representatives of the issuers, the management board chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association, Vasil Velev, pointed out. The big institutional investors should also have their members, Bulgarian Association of Asset Management Companies chairman Stoyan Toshev said.
Source: Pari (20.01.2010)

Crisis pummels 2009 profits of 22 Bulgarian banks Bulgaria’s banking sector rounded off 2009 at a profit but 22 out of the 33 market players have turned in a worse performance than a year earlier as the crisis rumbled on. Data by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) revealed that banks have suffered deterioration of between 8% and a staggering 79%, with West-East Bank plummeting almost 225% after it swung to a BGN 3.9 million loss from a profit of BGN 3.1 million for 2008. Six banks have pulled off better performance including Corporate Commercial Bank, ProCredit Bank, Citibank Sofia Branch, International Asset Bank, Teximbank, Bulgarian Development Bank and Central Cooperative Bank. Alpha Bank Sofia Branch and Emporiki Bank have seen profits stage precipitous drops from BGN 68.9 million to BGN 23.1 million, and from BGN 7.024 million to BGN 3.7 million, respectively. Banks’ write-down costs stood at BGN 1.040 billion in 2009, a whopping increase from BGN 330.5 million for the previous year as both firms and households scrambled to pay fat loans handed out when lending was all abuzz. Overdue loans are creeping up, with loans with delays of over 30 days hitting 13.64% of the total gross volume. Loans which are more than 90 days overdue speak for 6.42% of the combined portfolio. The banking system posted an unaudited profit of BGN 780 million for 2009 versus BGN 1.4 billion for 2008. Assets added up to BGN 70.9 billion, up 1.9% year-on-year.
Source: Dnevnik (01.02.2010)

Bulgaria's Central Cooperative bank, part of the country's largest holding company Chimimport, is in talks for the acquisition of a third bank in Macedonia. Stater Banka said in a statement on the Macedonian Stock Exchange website that its majority owner, Iceland 's Milestone Group, is currently negotiating with Bulgaria's Central Cooperative bank to sell its 91,71% stake in the bank. The Central Cooperative bank has not confirmed the information. The bank has already acquired two banks in Macedonia – Sileks Banka and Post Bank, as well as a branch in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Source: Darik Radio (18.02.2010)

Bulgaria’s blue-blooded Central Cooperative Bank (CCB) is acquiring 100% in Macedonia’s Stater Banka, having already secured the nod of the local financial watchdog. The Bulgarian lender will pay ER 5.9 million to acquire the Macedonian lender from its current owner Iceland's Milestone Group. Kumanovo-based Stater Banka is the second Macedonian acquisition of CCB, which in February 2008 gobbled up Sileks. The Bulgarian bank also has an office in Nicosia and Cyprus. CCB is Bulgaria’s eleventh bank by assets as at December 2009.
Source: Dnevnik (17.03.2010)

Central Cooperative Bank was the most liquid public company for Q1, BSE statistic revealed. Fuel distributor Petrol JSC is no longer among the leaders in terms of market capitalization and was replaced in top 3 by Arko Towers REIT. Leader is BTC, second ranks CiBank with total market capitalization of BGN 769,3 million. Total capitalization of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange fell 3,53% in Q1 to BGN 11,37 billion. 19 companies terminated registration on BSE, 8 of them are mutual funds – four funds managed by UBB Asset Management and four managed by DSK Asset Management.
Source: Pari (08.04.2010)

UniCredit Bulbank posted the highest profit for the first quarter (Q1) of 2010 - BGN 37, 9 million, the official statistics of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) shows, according to the Pari daily. Its financial result lost 35, 41% on an annual basis. United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) and DSK Bank follow with BGN 34, 7 million and BGN 32, 5 million respectively. Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank), Raiffeisenbank, Piraeus Bank, First Investment Bank (Fibank), Bulgarian American Credit Bank (BACB), Central Cooperative Bank (CCB) and Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) are also among the top 10 banks in terms of revenues for Q1 of 2010. Three of the banks have registered a growth in profit on an annual basis – Corpbank (36, 1%), UBB (23, 8%) and BDB (1,6%). BACB has registered the highest loss in profit compared to the same period of 2009 – 48, 6%. UniCredit Bulbank occupies the first position in terms of assets as well. The financial institution's assåts amounted to BGN 11, 4 billion in the end of Q1, gaining 3, 4% on an annual basis. DSK Bank is second with assets of BGN 8, 6 billion, followed by UBB and Raiffeisenbank with BGN 7, 9 billion and BGN 6, 8 billion respectively. Raiffeisenbank’s assets increased 10% on an annual basis. UBB’s assets added 5,2% for the same period.
Source: Pari (03.05.2010)

Bulgaria’s Corporate Commercial Bank, which is believed to finance the media group of mogul Irena Krasteva, holds nearly half of the money of strategic state-owned companies. The data was provided Sunday by Finance Minister Simeon Djankov at the request of the editors-in-chief of eleven of the biggest print media in Bulgaria, who approached the department, citing the law for access to information. The eighteen companies listed include the Bulgarian energy holding and its units (gas monopoly Bulgargas, gas pipeline operator Bulgartransgas, state power utility NEK, nuclear power plant Kozloduy, thermal power plant Maritsa East II), as well as tobacco monopoly Bulgartabac, Bulgaria Posts, Sofia Airport, the Bulgarian Railways Company. The data has been dated March 31, 2010. Nearly 65% of the money of these companies are concentrated in three banks, whose market share does not exceed 9% - Corporate Commercial Bank (48%), EIBank, where the prime minister's long-time live-in girlfriend Tsvetelina Borislavova holds a 18% stake and the Central Cooperative Bank, the data shows.
Source: Darik Radio (17.05.2010)

PM Borissov to Inspect Three Banks The three banks in which the assets of the state-run companies in Bulgaria have been mainly deposited, will be audited thoroughly, PM Boyko Borissov announced in the coastal city of Bourgas. The audits will begin soon, he added. The banks that will be first probed are the Corporate Commercial Bank, the Central Cooperative Bank and the Economic Investment Bank. The audits will be coordinated by the ministers of economy and finance. They have to find out if all the conditions and criteria have been met and whether there are breaches. "We will take urgent measures if we find out that some of the conditions have not been met," the PM said. "It is inadmissible that the money of the state be kept in only one bank," UDF Leader Martin Dimitrov warned. "This may create big problem if the financial system runs into trouble. Keeping the state money in a single bank clearly speaks of lobbyism," he added.
Source: Standart (19.05.2010)

Bulgaria MinFin Works out New Banking Rules Bulgaria's finance minister Simeon Djankov pledged to work out a new, uniform set of rules for opting the banks that manage state-run companies’ deposits, within a month. “I have had talks with the Association of Banks and studied the international experience. A working group will be set up to include experts of the Finance Ministry, the Association of the Banks and the Bulgarian National Bank, who will propose within one month unified rules for providing banking services to state-owned enterprises,” Minister Simeon Djankov said after the regular meeting of the government. The new regulations will come into effect immediately.
Source: Standart (20.05.2010)

BNB: There is no bank with unclear owners in Bulgaria The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has reacted and will always react to any case when an official political or public figure questions the good reputation and transparency of the capitals of the Bulgarian banking system. This is the case with the strange statement by US Ambassador to Bulgaria James Warlick who expressed suspicion in the transparency of the capitals of a bank operating on the Bulgarian banking market. This statement mars the immaculate reputation of the BNB as a supervisory body and the credit of the Bulgarian banking sector as a whole. The BNB explicitly states that there is not a single bank operating on the Bulgarian market whose owners are unclear. To the attention of Ambassador Warlick, the BNB has had an agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the currency of the USA since 2001, where he could get answers to all his questions concerning this issue keeping the requirements for confidentiality.
Source: Standart (20.05.2010)

The General Meeting of the shareholders central Cooperative Bank- Sofia, Bourse code 4CF, which was held on June 30, 2010, decided shall not distribute dividend for 2009. The company reported a profit to the amount of BGN 22 094 551.49 to the Reserves fund.
Source: Capital market (02.07.2010)

Bulgarian tour operator Alma Tour will take out a EUR 17.275 million worth of loans with UniCredit Bulbank and Central Cooperative Bank (CCB), and will institute a pledge on two hotels, one company with a golf project and the receivables of all of its subsidiaries. The proposals were approved by shareholders at a general meeting at the end of last week. The proceeds will be used for the prepayment of the company’s bond which it struggled to keep up with a few months back. The company has already repaid EUR 1 million of its EUR 5 million bond issued in 2006. “We are executing major refinancing of old debt and the contracts allow us to cover them by the new loan,” Alma Tour president Lyubomir Pankovski told Dnevnik. He explained that bondholders will pocket EUR 4 million in principal and approximately EUR 170,000 in interest payments. The new loans will be only utilised for the principal. The company will tap into own funds to pay out interests. A few months ago Alma Tour encountered financial difficulties that forced it to suspend principal payments while keeping up interest payments. According to its first-half report, the tour operator has three overdrafts including one to United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) maturing in end-2010 on which it owns BGN 2.2 million as at end-June, and a further almost BGN 3 million worth of loans to DSK Bank due back in September. Alma Tour has slated a portion of the fresh money for completion of The Tamplier Hotel in the ski resort of Bansko, near Sofia.
Source: Dnevnik (11.08.2010)

Bulgaria's blue-chip industrial conglomerate Chimimport reported a 3% increase in profit for the first six months of the year as revenue dwindled by nearly 20%, according to consolidated figures. Revenue were dragged mostly by a slump in revenue from non-financial operations within the group, with transportation bearing the brunt with a 14% decline. Chimimport owns Bulgarian Aviation Group (BAG), which comprises airlines Bulgaria Air and Hemus Air as well as helicopter emergency rescue operator Air Ban. The downtrend began back in end-2009, when Bulgaria Air, for instance, posted a 12% decrease in sales as passenger numbers diminished by 13.5%. On a brighter note, Chimimport registered better revenue from interests and insurance, largely on the back of insurance company Armeec and Central Cooperative Bank (CCB). The group’s total revenue including one-off impact of currency fluctuations added up to BGN 2.875 billion in the first half of 2010 in comparison with BGN 3.57 billion a year earlier. The net profit stood at BGN 76.4 million versus BGN 74 million a year earlier as expenses fell faster than revenue, down by 20% and 19.5%, respectively. 2010 marks the first dividend payout on Chimimport’s preference shares issued last year. The group has set aside around BGN 80 million, and plans to hand out to shareholders a total of BGN 9.6 million of its 2009 profit.
Source: Dnevnik (01.09.2010)

Two Bulgarian companies, business news outfit Investor.bg and plastic packaging maker Asenova Krepost, are seeking to collect around BGN 13 million on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, according to statements of the entities. Specifically, Investor.bg intends to raise BGN 3 million through the issue of new shares, which will be sold in a transaction already approved by the company's shareholders. The terms of the offering, to be handled by KBC Securities Bulgaria, will be determined by Investor.bg board of directors. Meanwhile, Asenova Krepost unveiled plans to reap BGN 10 million by issuing 800,000 new shares at a price of BGN 3 each, with each existing share entitling the holder to one right. The company has mandated Central Cooperative Bank to manage the issue.
Source: Dnevnik (25.11.2010)