…Reputable names buy 12 mln NPL shares
Bank of Cyprus Pcl (BOC) shares broke above a key resistance level Tuesday, helping pull the CSE GENX higher on the back of reports that the 11.9 mln NPL shares recently disposed through a book building method were snapped by respectful foreign institutional names.
BOC shares finished Tuesday trading well bid at CYP 4.23 on the CSE, up 1.68% while on the ASE, the shares bucked the declining trend in Greece, to close 0.82% higher at €7.38 on moderate volume of 827k shares.
The technical charts prepared by the Financial Mirror indicate that in the event that the BOC shares manage to maintain their gains above 4.18 support, then the outlook will improve for target approach of 4.32, then 4.46 to 4.64.
The Financial Mirror has meanwhile obtained documents indicating that a major chunk of the 11.96 mln shares, representing 2.18% of the BOC capital that were recently placed at an average price of €7.05 (CYP 4.05) were snapped up by major foreign institutional investors, indicating a high level of confidence among foreign investors to continue to invest in BOC shares at current levels.
Some of the names spotted to have purchased shares during the book-building process of the 11.96 mln shares, organised by J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd., are Moore Macro Fund LP, a fund managed by UBS subsidiary Julius Bear International, Gartmore SICAV, Norges Bank, Deutsche Bank managed funds and Massach. MFS Fund.
The placement of the shares raised EUR 84.22 mln or CYP 48.4 mln, which were used to reduce the Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) of the Bank.
More breakouts
In addition to the positive performance of BOC, the shares of Laiki Bank Pcl (CPB) and Hellenic Bank Pcl (HB) also moved higher. Laiki closed 0.73% higher at CYP 2.77, while HB, reporting its first half results on August 28 closed 1.57% higher at CYP 1.27.
Other high volume stocks were A. Tsokkos Hotels (TSH), up 2.27% at 18 cent and Louis Pcl (LUI), down 1.56% at 25.6 cent after profit takers took Monday’s sharp rally to 26 cent to trim positions and lock in their gains.
The CSE GENX closed 1.34% higher Tuesday at 2727.37 points on total volume of CYP 3.11 mln.
Dodonis Portfolio (DOD) closed 6.4% higher at 3.3 cent, Logicom Pcl (LOG) was down 1.32% at 37.5 cent, Demtra Pcl (DEM) closed 4.2% higher at 31.8 cent while CLL Investment Pcl (CLL) ended 2.63% higher at 3.9 cent.
