Page 9 - BNE_magazine_06_2019

bne June 2019 The Month That Was I 9
Finance
Eastern Europe
The management of Russian state gas major Gazprom recommended
a RUB16.6 per share dividend for 2018, which is more than 1.5-fold higher than the previously suggested RUB10.43 per share, making a potential total payout of RUB393bn ($6bn) to be approved by the board and the share- holder meeting on June 28. Gazprom shares jumped by over 10% on the announcement on May 14.
The National Bank of Ukraine
(NBU) has lost an appeal filed to the Sixth Appellate Administrative Court against May's ruling of the Kyiv District Administrative Court that satisfied
the lawsuit filed by the Cyprus-based company Triantal Investments Ltd, controlled by Ihor Kolomoisky former co-owner of the nation's largest lend-
er PrivatBank, nationalised in late 2016.
Leading Russian online job search portal HeadHunter carried out the first IPO on NASDAQ since 2013, on May 9 placing 16.3mn ADRs or 32%
of capital at $13.5 per ADR, the upper range of price guidance. The shares of the newcomer jumped by 24% in the first two trading days, bring HeadHunt- er's valuation from $675mn to $837mn on May 10.
State rail monopoly Russian
Railways (RZD) is preparing to issue euro-denominated "green bonds", making it the first blue chip issuer to use the instrument, Vedomosti daily reported on May 8 citing the investor prospect for the placement.
Russian steel group and major pipe maker TMK postponed plans to SPO
a 59.4% stake in its Romanian sub- sidiary TMK Artrom on the Bucharest bourse, Reuters reported on May 8 citing an announcement by TMK Artom. After cashing in with the sale of 100% of its US subsidiary IPSCO Tubulars for $1.2bn, TMK said it will be spending €62.3mn from the sale in TMK Artom to
subscribe to new shares in the same subsidiary.
The Russia-led Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) will allocate a $100mn loan to Belarusian state-owned potash miner Belaruskali. The loan will be provided for the financing of
the company's floating capital and an investment programme, the EBD said in a statement on May 15.
Russian Railways (RZD) set the price for possible sale of 50%-plus- 2 shares in Transcontainer con- tainer operator at RUB36.2bn, which makes the lower band of valuation
of the company estimated by Price- waterhouseCoopers. In 2018 Rus- sian billionaires Roman Abramovich and Alexander Abramov acquired a 24.5% stake in Transcontainer from RZD and reportedly intended to seek a controlling stake in one of Russia's most valuable transportation assets.
Russia's Finance Ministry continues to place large amounts of OFZ federal treasury bonds amid high demand, on the weekly auction of May 15 selling RUB135bn ($2.1bn) worth of bonds in three placements against
a demand of RUB239bn. As reported by bne IntelliNews, since the beginning of 2019 appetite for OFZs returned.
Unsecured consumer loans in Russia keep on growing, increasing by
25% year-on-year in January-March 2018, Vedomosti daily said on May 17 citing data by Frank RG. Unsecured loans accounted for RUB1.05tn of the total retail loans volume of RUB1.9tn issued, and as a class are growing faster
than overall retail loans (16%) and mortgages (3.5%).
Belarus state development agency, the Development Bank of Belarus (DBB), has placed the debut issue of Eurobonds denominated in national currency in the amount of BYN210mn (around $105mn) with a circulation period of three years with a rate of 12.00% per annum.
The Belarusian government is going to raise the equivalent of $150mn on the Russian market this year, the nation's Finance Minister Maksim Yer- molovich said on 14 May.
Central Europe
The Czech National Bank (CNB) posted its biggest loss ever from investment in shares of CZK26.9bn (€1.04bn), the bank reported in its 2018 annual report. “The reason is a decline in stock markets,” explained CNB spokeswoman Marketa Fiserova, daily E15.cz reported.
PPF Bank owed by the richest Czech Petr Kellner increased its net profit by 45% (CZK681mn [€26.4mn]) year-on- year in 2018 to CZK2.2bn (€85.4mn), with its total assets amounting to CZK235bn (€9.1bn), the bank reported.
Eurasia
The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) is provid-
ing $10mn of financing to India-based international company Phoenix Fruits to set up greenfield fruit orchards near Almaty, Kazakhstan’s commercial capital.
www.bne.eu