Investors unimpressed by management changes of "Carpatica" bank

Investor appetite for shares of "Carpatica" (symbol: BCC) did not see significant changes in the last four trading sessions, even though the bank went through major changes, including the replacement of its general manager and the share capital increase by which it managed to raise 26.82 million lei.

Once Nicolae Surdu takes over the management of the bank from the former manager Nicolaie Hoanţă, (October 12th), "Banca Carpativa" will switch to a dual management system, in which the executive part will be distinct from the Board of Administration.

The decisions of the administrators of the bank will need to be validated by the shareholders in the General Assembly of November 14th.

Before coming to "Banca Carpatica", Nicolae Surdu managed the operations of the local branch of Belgian group "Fortis", and prior to that served as a vice-president of "Credit Europe Bank" for three years.

"Carpatica", in which businessman Ilie Carabulea has a 36.26% stake, has increased its assets by 44% y/y in H1 2009, up to 3.29 billion lei.

Another major shareholder of the bank is Alin Albu, a well-known Sibiu-based businessman, who recently inherited from his father, Aurel Albu, approximately 201.21 million BCC shares, which amount to 10% of the bank"s share capital.

Banca Comercială Carpatica posted a gross loss of 2.4 million lei in Q3, which caused its profit for the first three quarters to drop to 6 million lei. However, the bank"s gross profit increased four times y/y.

Over the same period, the bank had an operating profit of 15 million lei.

Shares of "Banca Comercială Carpatica" currently trade at an average price of 0.106 lei/share, which puts its market value at 231.32 million lei.

Shares of "Banca Comercială Carpatica" have been trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange since June 9, 2004, with the symbol BCC.

The share capital of the bank will be increased to 228.07 million lei, after the shareholders subscribed 96% of the newly issued shares as part of a share capital increase intended to help the bank better withstand the macroeconomic and systemic shocks.