ERG Capital funds stir up action on Bulgarian bourse

The first day of September spurred drowsy investors on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) into action with a bunch of exciting corporate news.

ERG Capital 1 and ERG Capital 2, the real estate investment trusts (REITs) of Bulgarian American Credit Bank (BACB), gained 36.92% to BGN 3.56, and 47.17% to BGN 3.90, respectively. But volumes were a slim 500 and 1,000, respectively.

BACB itself advanced by 2.95% to BGN 11.20 apiece on expectations of a possible sell-off after current majority shareholder Allied Irish Bank said it plans to shed this investment by March 2011.

Overall, Wednesday’s session was mostly positive as indices hopped up in low volumes. The blue-chip SOFIX added 0.71 to 391.72 points and Dnevnik 20 of the biggest and most liquid stocks ticked up 0.72 to 55.84 points.

Trade turnover, excluding block and other pre-arranged deals, stood at BGN 800,000.

Blue-chip gainers were led by industrial group Stara Planina Hold and fuel retailer Petrol, which posted promising second-quarter figures. The former rose just over 3% to BGN 2.37 and the latter was up 2.86% to BGN 2.88 per share.

Solid figures also benefited mining company Kaolin, which jumped more than 6% to BGN 4.45.

Industrial conglomerate Chimimport held on to the green as well, with its common stock moving 0.91% higher to BGN 2.45 and its preference shares finishing 2.52 up to BGN 2.44.