Shares of the Proprietatea Fund, again at an all time high

Shares of the Proprietatea Fund (FP) have reached a new historic high on Friday, of 0.7105 lei, and closed the session at 0.7080/share, up 1.29% over the previous session.

Marian Lupu, a broker at Estinvest, attributes the rise of the company's stock to the increase of the company's NAV and the future IPOs of Nuclearelectrica and Romgaz: "The outlook is good, both due to the listings of Nuclearelectrica and Romgaz, as well as due to the increase of the net assets".

Alexandru Păşălan, trader at brokerage firm NBG Securities România, thinks that the stock of the Proprietatea Fund remains quite interesting given the future IPOs expected to take place later this year: "I still see increased buying interest and even though the August high was surpassed today (Friday - ed. note), I still believe in the potential of this stock".

At the end of last week, the Proprietatea Fund has announced that its net assets have increased almost 1% in August, to 15.184 billion lei, but the Fund has posted losses of 5.6 million lei, so that after the first eight months the Proprietatea Fund has reported a gain of 530.5 million lei.

Marian Lupu believes that the future evolution of the shares of the Fund will be positive, but that the share price will not reach the NAV.

Nicu Grigoraş, a broker at Intercapital, considers that the main reason behind the rise of the stock of the Proprietatea Fund last week was the positive state of the foreign markets: "Essentially, the evolution of the foreign markets is the main reason behind the rise, and the détente of the situation in Syria has caused a positive mood in the market". He has reminded that the foreign markets are at all-time highs.

Nicu Grigoraş also considers that the Proprietatea Fund is the company that has reacted the best to the evolution of the foreign markets, with the main reason being the foreign shareholders of the Fund. The broker attributes the recent rise of the shares of the Proprietatea Fund to the future listings of some of the companies in the portfolio of the Proprietatea Fund: "Perhaps the listing of Nuclearelectrica and Romgaz contributes to the positive evolution of the company, as these companies hold an important weight in the assets of the Fund".

Nicu Grigoraş expects the market, as well as the shares of the Proprietatea Fund to have a positive evolution, in the near future. In his opinion, the factors that can affect the price of the stock of the Proprietatea Fund are the state of the foreign markets, the future listings on the energy sector, if they complete successfully, and the overall market position.

On August 31st, the value of the net assets was 1.1782 lei for a share of the Proprietatea Fund, compared to 1.1601 lei in July, according to a press release issued by the BSE. The Proprietatea Fund is a joint stock company that sometimes works as a closed investment fund with an unlimited duration, and is managed by Franklin Templeton Investments.

• The net assets of the Proprietatea Fund increased 1% in August

The net assets of the Proprietatea Fund (FP) rose 1% in August, to 15.184 billion lei, but the Fund has posted losses of 5.6 million lei, so that after the first eight months the Proprietatea Fund has posted a profit of 530.5 million lei after the first eight months. At the end of July, the Proprietatea Fund had net assets of almost of 15.034 billion lei and a profit of 536 million lei, according to the reports sent to the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE).

At the end of August, the Fund had investments in government bonds of 580.2 million lei, up 4.14% compared to July (557.2 million lei), whereas the amounts in the bank deposits fell 29%, at 321.8 million lei, from 453.3 million lei, in July.

The decrease was determined predominantly by the beginning of the payout of dividends, on June 28th. The dividends paid out this year by the Proprietatea Fund amount to 536.4 million lei.

The stakes of the Proprietatea Fund were valued at 5.877 billion lei at the end of August, up 3.58% compared to the previous month (5.674 billion lei). The stakes in the unlisted companies have stagnated at 8.437 billion lei.

The shares held in Romanian companies represent 99.07% of the net asset (99.16% in July), with the balance of 0.93% coming from stakes in companies listed in Austria (0.84% in July).

The "oil & gas" sector had the greatest weight at the end of June, of 40.45% (39.86% in July).The "electricity utilities: production" segment accounts for 23.24% (23.47% in July), and "electricity and gas utilities: transport, distribution, supply" had a weight of 22.45% (22.64% in July). Bank holdings amount to 2.96% (2.7% in July).

The stake in OMV Petrom (SNP) had the highest weight in the company's net assets, of 30.82% (30.34% in June), followed by the stake in Hidroelectrica, with 13.18% of the total (13.31% in July). Together with 75% of the net asset.

At the end of August, foreign institutional investor held 56.91% of the shares of the Proprietatea Fund, Mediafax writes. American hedge fund Elliott Associates holds the greatest stake in the Fund (more than 18%), and investment management company City of London owns 4.87%. In August, City of London announced that it has pared down its stake in the Fund to 4.87%, from 9.43% in the previous report, of September last year.