Selling of 13.7% of Shares of Port of Bar and 3.7% of Shares of Plantaze

In the past days, numerous shareholders of the Port of Bar and Plantaze have offered the companies’ shares at a price of 1 euro per share, which is a far higher price than the price at which those shares were traded until recently, the executive manager of the brokerage house VIP Broker, Ivan Scepanovic, said for Portal RTCG. He specified that, in the trading system of the Montenegroberza, the offer featured 13.7% shares of the Port of Bar and 3.7% shares of Plantaze and added that the number grew with each day.

Scepanovic said that summing up the recent events in the Montenegrin capital market in the past nine months of this year.

He also said that, in that period, a growth of turnover had been recorded, but also that the number of transitions had nearly halved compared to the same period of the previous year and that, in that period, the liquidity of the market had not improved. He points out that the state could contribute to it considerably, not just by creating regulations, but also through active participation. In the past days, he said, the most current shares are those of the Port of Bar and the company 13. jul Plantaze. He explains that the growth of the prices of the shares of those companies was contributed to by the state’s announcement about a more active participation in the capital market through setting aside funds from the budget for the purchase of shares of certain companies which are of importance for the state as business systems.

Talking about the results realized in the capital market in the first nine months this year, he says that, as of the third quarter, a turnover of nearly EUR 50 million was realized at Montenegroberza.

– It’s slightly over 15 million more compared to the same period last year. However, the number of transactions is 42% lower, so even with the present index growth, unfortunately, we can’t say that liquidity in the market has improved – Scepanovic said.

According to him, a considerable price drop was recorded by Institut Simo Milosevic, Port of Adria, ZIF Eurofond, Solana Bajo Sekulic, which is a consequence of the problems in the business operations of those issuers.

– On the other hand, the biggest growth was realized by steel companies which truly had a small initial value, so every positive change of their prices is necessarily significant. We can find a similar explanation in the example of the shares of Plantaze 13. jul, which are potentially more attractive with the new evaluation of the property, although the conditions and the results of the business of this issuer are still not such that they infuse investors with absolute trust. A high share price growth was also recorded in port operators, that is, the companies Port of Kotor and Port of Bar, which recorded serious financial progress in their balances – he said.

When asked why the prices of the shares of Port of Bar and Plantaze have recorded a significant growth in the past days, Scepanovic answers that it has certainly been contributed to by the announcement of the state about the active participation in the capital market through setting aside funds from the budget for the purchase of shares of certain companies which are important for the state as business systems.

– This move has increased the trust in the short term, with an expectation that the announced state’s actions will come to pass, so a part of small shareholders has already offered, through the trading system, their shares in the issuers which were mentioned in public presentations explaining the Law on the Budget and the plans for some of them. I primarily mean the shares of the Port of Bar, a company whose future operations state representatives see connected with its former part which now functions as the Port of Adria – he said and added that the situation was similar with the shares of Plantaze.

– They, as well as the shares of Port of Bar were offered in an organized manner by their current owners, in the form of small shareholders, not just to the state, but to all potential investors, which is certainly a signal of sorts and an expectation that could have influenced the prices of these shares.

As he said, in the trading system at the moment, the offer includes 13.7% of the shares of the Port of Bar and 3.7% of the shares of Plantaze, with the number increasing day by day, as there are not just a few shareholders, but several hundred, who have already issued sales orders as a sign that they are putting their shares up for sale.

– As these issuers have thousands of shareholders, I do not exclude the possibility of the number of the offered shares increasing. Still, it has to be kept in mind that all shareholders make decisions about their property on their own, so those who decide to offer shares at a certain price will be able to do so as always, through their brokers, and whether they will sell them at the prices they want depends on the market circumstances, including the demand for said securities or any others – Scepanovic points out.

Talking about the interest of investors in the purchase of shares, Scepanovic says that it is evident that the growing level of deposits in banks proves that there is money and that there’s several times more of it than the amount that revolves in the local market.

– However, the interest of investors in the stock market is always present, but there’s a question of its scope and character. Similarly, there are always possibilities for earning, just like there are risks that accompany investments in the stock market or any other investment. Whether anyone will decide to take part in the stock exchange and how and through which financial instruments depends primarily of their investment affinities and goals that they want to realize, so it’s not just difficult, but impossible to give advice that could be equal for everybody.

When it comes to the expectations in the Montenegrin capital market, Scepanovic says that it is functioning, whether it is in the focus of a wider public or not.

– It will remain so, but in order to fulfill its purpose to the fullest extent, certain changes need to happen, primarily in the structure of the market and the instruments it offers. It is something that requires a greater engagement of all participants in the market, but also the state, which, not just through creating regulations, but also through active participation, could considerably contribute to the development of the market. When I say that, I mean the issue of instruments in the local market, whereby positive effects for the state and citizens as investors could be realized, but also give an example to other parties. I even rate the aforementioned decision on the more active participation of the state in the market, through the potential purchase of shares, positively, because such activities generate additional interest in the market, so I hope that this state engagement in the local capital market will not be an isolated case – he pointed out.

He also mentioned the state’s intention to, among other things, borrow from local banks and said that he believed that the capital market could have helped as well.

– However, from what I see, the decision is to incur debts through issuing securities and through arrangements with crediting institutions, so there’s no point wondering about the manner of realization of incurring debts for this year. Still, I hope that it won’t mean that in the upcoming years, the state will not seek funds for the financing of its needs through the issue of financial instruments at Montenegroberza, because, along with collecting funds for the budget, it would not just be a way to improve the liquidity of the local securities market, but also to provide a large number of citizens with the possibility of investing in government bonds and thereby realize an income, which, at the moment, is difficult to do for most citizens, not so much for the fact that the majority of the issues of government securities pertains to those realized in foreign market as for the fact that the census needed for investing in them is high – Scepanovic concluded in his interview for the RTCG portal.

Montenegroberza

Luka Bar

Plantaže

VIP broker

Ivan Šćepanović

Institut Simo Milošević

Port of Adria

ZIF Eurofond

Solana Bajo Sekulić

Luka Kotor

stock market

shares

share trading

stock market trading

sale of shares

purchase of shares