December 6 (SeeNews) - Private companies will continue to list on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), with banking and energy sectors expected to attract most investors, the BVB said on Wednesday, citing analyst opinions.
The market has potential to grow to historical highs next year, the BVB quoted stock market analysts as saying in a press release.
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"If someone asked me a year ago, I did not suspect that we would have five listings in 12 months. I remember that MedLife was scheduled to be listed in Warsaw or London four to five years ago, and few expected to see this listing in Bucharest," Mihai Caruntu, senior capital market analyst with Banca Comerciala Romana, BCR, said.
In December 2016, MedLife raised 230 million lei ($58.7 million/49.6 million) through a fully subscribed initial public offering of a 44% stake.
An area with great potential is also that of dividends, analysts say, because the state will need money in 2018.
"We can expect the 90% dividend memorandum to be implemented in 2018, which would mean some rather high potential returns," Marius Pandele, analyst with Prime Transaction brokerage commented for BVB.
Analysts believe that rising oil prices will make energy stocks more attractive.
"Looking at international demand and supply, we do not expect a period of low oil price, of 30-40 dollars per barrel. Thus, oil companies will make profits and will resume investments," Tradeville deputy general manager Ovidiu Dumitrescu said.
Graţiana Ordean, senior financial analyst at Transilvania Bank, said that the banking sector would be attractive for investors in 2018 as well.
"We believe the sector itself is undervalued. For example, in 2007, loans were slightly above the level of deposits, and now loans are well below this level at almost 70%, so I expect this sector to benefit from the economic recovery," Ordean said.
Regarding the BET index, Gratian Ordean estimated that the BVB benchmark may well rise to 9,000 points over the next 12 months.
At the end of November,
The BET, which is tracking the 13 most liquid companies listed on the BVB, closed at 7,796 points at the end of November, up 700 points relative to the value recorded at the beginning of 2017.
After the first 11 months, the BET-TR index, which includes dividends from BET companies, advanced nearly 20% and closed its last November session at 10,483 points.
The BVB appointed Marius-Alin Barbu as interim chief executive officer last month after CEO Ludwik Sobolewski resigned.
The selection process for the appointment of a new CEO and general manager of the BVB is continuing, the bourse said in a statement. The final appointment will need to be confirmed by the country's Financial Supervisory Authority, ASF.
(1 euro=4.6344 lei)