Ljubljana, 01 December (STA) – The Ljubljana Stock Exchange saw solid trading volume of EUR 7.81m this week. The SBI TOP index of blue chips closed 0.21% higher on the week at 589.40 points. The most active issue was Telekom Slovenije and the biggest percentage gainer was retailer Mercator.
The telecoms group contributed EUR 1.76m to the weekly turnover, but the share fell 1.23% to close the week at EUR 80 despite positive operating results reported by the company for the first nine months of the year.
The company increased profit by 11% year-on-year to EUR 41.9m in the first three quarters of the year as a result of cost cutting measures. Revenues were down 4% to EUR 596m. “Considering that the operating results for the first nine months of the year are solid, and given the absence of other major news, the fall in the price of the Telekom share is surprising,” Andrej Zakotnik of brokerage GBD has commented for the STA.
Pharmaceutical company Krka saw EUR 1.42m worth of its shares change hands. The item shed 0.62% on the week to close at EUR 46.71.
Mercator gained 1.75% to EUR 116 on EUR 441,000 in volumes.
The retailer opened a new shopping centre in Novo mesto this week in an investment worth EUR 24m. Two other gainers among blue chips were fuel retailer Petrol (+1.40% to EUR 216) and insurer Zavarovalnica Triglav (+0.66% to EUR 15.20). Meanwhile, the share of the NKBM bank lost 2.59% to EUR 1.13 and household appliance maker Gorenje closed 2.14% lower at EUR 4.11.
The management of the state-owned bank announced it had selected reinsurer Sava Re as the only prospective bidder in the process of offloading its 51% stake in insurer Zavarovalnica Maribor. The deadline for the conclusion of talks and the signing of an agreement is 21 December. The share of Sava Re gained 2.20% to EUR 7.
SOURCE: sta.si