November 15 (SeeNews) - Romanian property restitution fund Fondul Proprietatea [BSE:FP] said on Wednesday its net profit increased to 906.4 million lei ($232 million/196 million euro) in the first nine months of 2017, up 59% on the year.
"The main contribution to the profit recorded in the first nine months of 2017 was the gross dividend income, which increased due to oil and gas group OMV Petrom's decision to distribute dividends in 2017 and due to higher dividends distributed by Hidroelectrica, as well as due to the special dividends in the amount of 170.6 million lei distributed by state-controlled entities," Fondul Proprietatea said in a filing to the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB.
A significant contribution to the profit recorded in the nine-month review period came from the positive net change in the fair value related to equity investments classified at fair value through profit or loss, mainly OMV Petrom SA, as a result of the 10% rise in the share price of this company during the period, it added.
Shareholders’ equity totalled 10.605 billion lei at end-September, down 6.85% year-on-year. The fund's net asset value fell to some 10.60 billion lei at the end of September 2017 from 11.35 billion lei a year earlier.
Fondul Proprietatea ended its eighth share buyback programme on November 10, during which it has repurchased a total of 141.8 million shares for 122.3 million lei.
Fondul Proprietatea's current market capitalisation stands at 8.51 billion lei.
At the beginning of November, Romanian power supplier and distributor Electrica [BSE:EL] concluded the purchase of minority stakes in four of its subsidiaries held by Fondul Proprietatea for a total of 752 million lei.
In September, the fund has sold a 2.5% shareholding interest in OMV Petrom [BSE:SNP] for 399.85 million lei. Now, Fondul owns 9.9985% of OMV Petrom's shares.
In mid-August, it said it has started procedures for a potential disposal of its ownership interest in Enel Romania and Engie Romania. The fund has been trying to sell these assets since 2012 in an effort to reduce the number of unlisted companies in its portfolio.
Fondul Proprietatea's shares traded at 0.8450 lei by 1347 CET on Wednesday on the BVB.
(1 euro =4.6482 Romanian lei)
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