Trading statistics for October show an average daily turnover of EUR 0.93m (-77% YoY). Meanwhile, the major index CROBEX ended October in red (-2.11%) at 1,574.68 points.
Trading report for October shows a relatively inactive trading month behind us as total equity turnover amounted to EUR 20.4m (or HRK 154.5m). This translates into an average daily turnover of EUR 0.93m, representing a sharp decrease of 53.1%. It is important to note that such a sharp decrease could somewhat be attributed to a high turnover of Kraš in October of 2019, which you can recap on here. If we were to exclude the effect of Kraš, the average daily turnover is still down as much as 45%, which reveals a continuation of relatively low liquidity on the ZSE, which we have been witnessing throughout most of Q2 and Q3.
Of the total value traded in the period in October block transactions of 2 companies account for 37.6%. Precisely, Adris (reg.) was traded as block (HRK 35.26m) and HT (HRK 22.78m).
If we were to exclude block transactions, HT generated HRK 16.1m or 16.7%, while Valamar Riviera generated HRK 8.9m. Podravka comes third, accounting for 8.5% (or HRK 8.2m). Next come Ericsson NT and Atlantska Plovidba with HRK 7.3m and HRK 5.9m respectively. Končar follows with HRK 5.7m. These five shares generated more than half of the turnover recorded by the entire (equity) market (excluding block transactions).
Share Price Performance of Croatian Blue Chips in October (%)
As visible in the graph, of the observed Croatian blue chips, Ericsson Nikola Tesla observed the highest share price increase of 6%, followed by Atlantic Grupa(+2.5%). On the flip side, Atlantska Plovidba recorded the highest decrease (of the observed companies) of 26.7%.
As a result of the above-mentioned share price performance of Croatian blue chips, CROBEX ended October in red (-2.11%) at 1,574.68 points. Of the sector indices, CROBEXkonstrukt noted the highest decrease of 8.28%. We note that all sector indices ended the month in red, with the exception of CROBEXindustrija (+0.74%). Such a performance on the Croatian equity market is in line with most major European indices as the negative sentiment regarding the Covid-19 pandemic continued in October. Besides that, many European countries have imposed further restrictions in the effort to prevent the spread of the virus, which was reflected in the equity markets.
It is also worth adding that in late October, Croatian companies published Q3 2020 reports which we already covered through Company Notes, while the rest were covered in our Market Espresso. To recap on our comments on 9M 2020 results (covered through Market Espresso) click here.
Besides that, in October, HT joined the prime market and became a constituent of CROBEXprime, which you can read about here.
To put things into a perspective, the mentioned deal accounts for 18.8% of the company’s trailing 12m consolidated sales.
Ericsson Nikola Tesla published an announcement on the Zagreb Stock Exchange stating that the company has concluded a business deal worth almost HRK 370m regarding the implementation of the Central Software Platform for the Centralized e-Health System in the Republic of Belarus.
The company notes that the contract is the result of a two-stage bidding process within the scope of the World Bank project P156778 „Belarus Health System Modernization Project”, financed by a loan of the International Bank for the Reconstruction and Development.
The contract was signed by the Republican Scientific and Research Center for Medical Technologies, Informatization, Administration and Management of Health, which is an agency of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus.
The planned duration of the platform implementation project is 2.5 years, and the contract also includes a 3-year warranty period. To put things into a perspective, the mentioned deal accounts for 18.8% of the company’s trailing 12m consolidated sales.
As a reminder, the Ericsson NT recently published their 9M 2020 report according to which the company recorded an increase in sales of 15.2% YoY, a decrease in EBITDA of 12.7% and a decrease in net profit of 16.8%. To read more about the 9M results click here.
To put things into a perspective, the contract accounts for 1.7% of the company’s trailing 12m consolidated sales.
Končar announced yesterday that they have signed a contract with the Croatian Transmission System Operator Ltd. (HOPS) for “Revitalisation of central remote control systems for the power system by upgrade to a new version”, which is worth HRK 49.9m.
The company notes that the complex project of upgrading HOPS’s existing SCADA/EMS/AGC/OTS systems to a new version of hardware and software is being implemented with a view of ensuring long-term sustainability of those central systems and introducing new functionalities in order to adequately support new business processes, digitalization and automation.
Timeframe for contract performance will be 39 months, plus 36 months of maintenance during the warranty period. To put things into a perspective, the mentioned contract accounts for 1.7% of the company’s trailing 12m consolidated sales.
As a reminder, Končar recently published their 9M report according to which the company reported an increase in sales of 12.7%, an increase in EBITDA of 43.7% and an increase in net profit of 185%. To read more about the company’s 9M 2020 results, click here.
In the 9M of 2020, NIS recorded a decrease in sales of 32.7% YoY, a decrease in EBITDA of 66.8% and a net loss of RSD 8.8bn.
Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) published their 9M 2020 report on the Belgrade Stock Exchange. According to the report, sales of petroleum products, oil and gas amounted to RSD 126.18bn, representing a decrease of 32.7%. The company’s results were quite affected as the average price of the oil of Brent type in the first nine 9m was USD 40.8 per barrel, representing a decrease of 37% YoY. Of the total sales, domestic market accounts for RSD 100.2bn, while RSD 35bn relates to the export and international sales. When breaking down sales by segment, sale of petroleum products (wholesale activities) amounted to RSD 80.33bn (-34.8% YoY). Meanwhile, of that RSD 11.57bn could be attributed to a single domestic customer HIP Petrohemija.
NIS noted that in the first nine months, 0.952m of conditional tons of oil and gas was produced, remaining flat YoY. The volume of refining in Pančevo Oil Refinery increased by 14% and it amounts to 2.6m tons of crude oil and semi-finished products. Total trade with petroleum products stood at 2.5m tons, which is lower by 3% YoY.
When looking at operating expenses, they amounted to RSD 142.29bn, representing a decrease of 21.2%. Of that, purchases of oil, gas and petroleum products represents by far the largest expense of RSD 86.33bn (-30.3%). Meanwhile production and manufacturing expenses decreased by 8.6% to RSD 17.1bn, which came mostly on the back of lower repair and maintenance service costs.
As a result of the above-mentioned EBITDA reached RSD 10.35bn compared to RSD 31.16bn in the same period of the previous year. Of that, Upstream segment’s effect was RSD 12.65bn, while Downstream negatively affected EBITDA with RSD -2.3bn. Going further down the P&L, the company reported an operating loss in the first nine months of RSD 6.96bn (compared to RSD 15.44bn in 9M 2019). At the same time, NIS noted a net loss of RSD 8.8bn.