For the first six months of the year, profit amounted to RON 2.9 million (€0.81 mln), nine times lower than in H1 2007.
“We made investments and share prices dropped below the acquisition price tag. The important thing is that we managed to be profitable without being forced to sell shares we own in closed companies,” Broker Cluj President, Petru Prunea, told Business Standard.
Broker Cluj is considering a merger with another brokerage company, most likely Transilvania Capital, and buyback of a share package, to support the low prices of shares listed on the stock market. Merger plans with Transilvania Capital are to be discussed by shareholders on August 29. “There is another company outside Bucharest that wants to merge with us. We want to save other brokerage companies through mergers and cover as much of Romania as we can. For now, going abroad would be an adventure,” Prunea added.
The international financial turmoil led to lower prices and fewer deals on the local stock market, which led also to a drop in brokerage company business.
