Sofia bourse warns 15 listed cos over information disclosure Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) has placed under supervision 15 local companies listed on the standard segment for a failure to satisfy criteria regarding to information disclosure, freefloat, and trading, among others. "The issuers [...] should not delay in information disclosure to the public, and in the event of default the listing of the respective issue of securities will be transferred to the BaSE Alternative Market of BSE-Sofia right away," BSE said on its website late on Friday. The list of companies that are under supervision for a period of three months includes Bulgartabac Holding [BUL:57B], Eurohold Bulgaria [BUL:4EH], Bulstrad Vienna Insurance Group [BUL:4BI], Petrol [BUL:5PET], Sirma Group Holding [BUL:SKK], and Sparky Eltos [BUL:SL9] among a total of 15. The mentioned companies are part of the the broader BGBX40 index, which tracks the 40 most traded shares. The main indices of the BSE closed in negative territory on Monday, with the blue chip SOFIX down 0.52% to 453.99 and the BGBX40 down 0.06% at 89.35.
Source: investor.bg (27.06.2016)

Eurohold Bulgaria hikes capital of three local units to comply with EU solvency rules Finance and insurance group Eurohold Bulgaria raised the capital of three of its four local insurance subsidiaries by a total of BGN 13.2 million to comply with the capital requirements in EU's Solvency II Directive. The capital of EIG Re, formerly known as HDI Zastrahovane, was raised by 4 million levs and that of Euroins Health Assurance was increased by BGN 1.5 million via a capital injection by Eurohold, the latter said in a press release on Tuesday. At the same time, the capital of general insurer Euroins Bulgaria is going up by BGN 7.7 million via two subordinated term loans, accepted as capital under the Solvency II Directive. The insurer has received BGN 3.7 million from Eurohold and BGN 4 million from an unnamed external investor. In July 2015, Romania's financial supervision authority ASF named Euroins Romania among a number of local insurers that need to strengthen their financial and solvency positions to comply with the Solvency II Directive. In November, ASF approved a financial recovery plan submitted by Euroins, which envisaged two share capital increases of a total amount of 400 million lei. Eurohold's sub-holding insurance company Euroins Insurance Group (EIG) has already paid 200 million lei towards the capital increase of Euroins Romania. Under the recovery plan, it may need to provide a second capital increase in the second half of 2016, depending on the company's financial results.
Source: money.bg (30.06.2016)

Bulgarian insurer Euroins H1 premium income falls 15% y/y The premium income of Bulgarian insurer Euroins [BUL:5IC] fell 14.6% on the year to EUR 27.4 million in the first half of 2015, its parent company. In June alone, Euroins' total premium income rose by an annual 9.4% to EUR 4.4 million. The reinsurance segment generated only EUR 1.4 million in the January-June period, down by 87.9% on an annual basis. The company’s general motor insurance business generated EUR 5.7 million in premiums in the January-June period, up 11.5% from a year earlier, while third-party liability insurance premiums were up 52.1% to EUR 12.8 million. Euroins's premium income from property insurance fell 15.3% to EUR 1.4 million in the January-June period. Euroins is a unit of Euroins Insurance Group, the insurance sub-holding division of Eurohold Bulgaria.
Source: investor.bg (18.07.2016)

Bulgarian insurers, pension funds select new reviewers to replace disqualified RSM Bulgaria's financial regulator has said that new external reviewers have been selected to replace the disqualified firm RSM Bulgaria in assessing the financial health of the country's pension funds and insurers. The reviewers which will replace RSM are France's Mazars, the Romanian unit of KPMG, Deloitte Audit, HLB Bulgaria, PwC, and Poland's Milliman.In May 2015, the European Commission recommended to Bulgaria to review and strengthen banking and non-banking financial sector supervision and improve corporate governance in financial intermediaries. The move came after in mid-2014, Bulgaria's then third- and fourth-biggest banks were hit by run on deposits. While First Investment Bank (FIBank) was rescued by the government, Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank) collapsed, triggering mounting distrust in the banking system and the central bank's regulatory practices. Last month, the central bank said that the AQR and stress tests of the banking sector showed that the capital adequacy of each bank was above the minimum regulatory requirements, but recommended capital increases for two local lenders, namely FIBank and Investbank.
Source: Capital (16.09.2016)

Bulgarian REIT Bulland increases capital via new share issue Bulgarian real estate investment trust (REIT) Bulland Investments said it had increased its capital by BGN 1.99 million to BGN 15 million through a new share issue. Bulland Investments had issued 1,990,236 new shares with a nominal value of BGN 1 each, representing 39.8% of the maximum number of shares that could have been subscribed. At least 36% of the offered 5 million shares had to be subscribed and fully paid for the issue to be successful. Bulland Investment specialises in the acquisition and leasing of agricultural land.
Source: investor.bg (09.11.2016)

Bulgarian tour operator Alfatour files for bankruptcy Bulgarian tour operator Alfatour has filed for bankruptcy due to liquidity issues. The tour operator noted that "the aggressive entry of low-cost airlines to the market" has led to a collapse of its sales on destinations in Europe and the UAE. Alfatour's customers who have paid in advance for their Christmas and New Year holidays will not lose their money which has been insured with Sofia-based Euroins Insurance Group. The insurance contract covers BGN 1.4 million, Alfatour added.
Source: Standart (13.12.2016)

Financial and insurance group Eurohold Bulgaria has issued EUR 40 million worth of corporate notes under its Euro Medium Term Note programme approved by the Irish central bank in November. The first tranche under the EMTN programme was issued on Thursday. The five-year notes carry a fixed coupon rate of 8%. The minimum trading lot is EUR 250,000. The issue will be listed for trading on the Irish Stock Exchange on December 22 In November, the Central Bank of Ireland granted approval to Eurohold Bulgaria's EUR 200 million euro EMTN programme, paving the way for the notes' admission to trading on the regulated market of the Irish Stock Exchange. "The funds' purpose is to support our main sub-holding company, Euroins Insurance Group, in order to better capitalize its insurance subsidiaries in the process of adapting to Solvency II directive," Kiril Boshov, board chairman of Eurohold Bulgaria, said in the statement. London-based Nomura international, Bulgarian investment brokerage Euro Finance and Balkan Advisory Company acted as lead managers of the EMTN programme and the issue. Eurohold Bulgaria's activities include financial services, leasing, insurance and car sales. The company has subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Romania and Macedonia.
Source: Capital (19.12.2016)

Bulgaria's eMobility plans to expand network of charging points for electric cars in SEE Sofia-based eMobility International said on Tuesday plans to invest 3 million euro ($3.1 million) into the construction of about 500 charging points for electric cars in Bulgaria and neighbouring countries by the end of 2017. "The company is in the process of negotiations in Romania, Macedonia and Greece," Boyan Bakardjiev, PR and communications manager of eMobility International, told SeeNews by phone. The company, which has 17 charging stations in Bulgaria, plans to gradually expand its network in the neighbouring countries. The planned investment in the SEE region compares to 496,000 euro already invested by the company in Bulgaria. EMobility International, which operates through its platform Eldrive, has entered into partnership with Finland's Fortum Charge & Drive, a company in operation of electricity charging infrastructure in the Nordic markets. The Finnish company will provide eMobility International with a management system for the Eldrive platform. "The management system is in a testing phase. It will be available to users in January 2017," Bakardjiev added. Currently, charging within the network is free. Payment for the charging service will be made with a RFID card or through a mobile application.
Source: Capital (20.12.2016)