Karoly Borbely, CEO, Hidroelectrica: "I think the state must sell more of its holding in the company"

Hidroelectrica's listing was a historic success that must continue with a secondary public offering, through which the state will sell its holding in the company, said, on Friday, Karoly Borbely, CEO of Hidroelectrica, on the occasion of the event that marked one year of to the listing of the electricity producer and supplier on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).

The director of Hidroelectrica emphasized that, in his opinion, the state, which currently owns 80% of the energy producer, must retain control of the company.

"With 10-15% (n.r. shares of Hidroelectrica sold on the stock exchange) next year, I think we could once again create a great excitement in the market. I am firmly convinced that if other companies had made listings earlier, the results would have been different today (...). From London to New York, they are talking about Romania, they are talking about Hidroelectrica, about the Bucharest Stock Exchange. In the last six-seven years, at the events dedicated to investors where we presented the company, we presented how great its potential is, no one believed that such a fantastic investment effort could exist at the Bucharest stock exchange", said Karoly Borbely.

Hidroelectrica debuted on the Bucharest Stock Exchange on July 12, 2023, after the largest public offer in BVB history, through which Fondul Proprietatea sold 19.94% of Hidro, the entire holding in the energy producer, the value of the transaction rising to around 9.3 billion lei (1.88 billion euros).

From the listing until the end of last week, the price of the H2O share was on an upward trajectory, with an increase in the quotation of 17%, compared to the closing price of the public offer of 104 lei per share and taking into account the dividend granted of the company this year, the total yield of Hidroelectrica's securities amounts to 37%.

Hidroelectrica is the largest producer of green energy in Romania and the main provider of technological services needed in the National Energy System, being a vital company for a strategic sector, with implications for national security.

At the end of May, private pension funds owned 11.2% of Hidroelectrica, of which the holding of Pilon II funds was equivalent to 10.8% of the producer and supplier of electricity, according to the site desprepensiiprivate.ro. The Romanian State, through the Ministry of Energy, owns 80% of Hidroelectrica, issuer whose valuation amounts to 57 billion lei, the largest Romanian company on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.