PSE Slightly Down for the Week

Czech equities, as measured by the PX Index, were off by 0.3% for the week ending February 24th to close at 1,537.7. The overall volume of trading on the PSE reached USD 689.9m, 44.8% below its 12M weekly average of USD 1,250.1m.

The best performing stock during the past week was Komercni banka with almost a 4% gain. At the end of last week, Komercni released its 4Q07 results, which came-in slightly better than expected, and the company proposed a CZK 180 per share dividend, which was also higher than consensus. Telefonica O2 CR also reported its 4Q07 numbers late in the week. The results came in almost 30% above the estimates. The management also proposed a dividend of CZK 50 per share, which was higher than the market had expected. The most actively traded stock last week CEZ was under pressure and closed out the week down approximately 2%. Zentiva lost 3.0% when Citibank downgraded its recommendation for the stock to a Sell. The worst performance of the week came from CME, which lost 4.2% for the week.

The reporting season has started and this week there should be numbers posted by CME and AAA Auto on Thursday, February 28. On Friday, February 29 numbers are expected out from Erste Bank and Unipetrol. CEZ already reported its 4Q07 results on Monday morning, with net profit coming in slightly lower than consensus.