Profit taking across the entire market hit the Prague bourse on Wednesday

Profit taking across the entire market hit the Prague bourse on Wednesday, with large sell orders from international accounts pushing the Czech market lower. Zentiva was among the worst performers on the day, losing almost 3.7% and closing at a daily low. This weakness follows our lowered recommendation after Zentiva’ s strong pharma performance. CEZ was also well offered; for today the market will refocus on CEZ after the government aims to dispose of its 16% stake in the company in order to raise funds for the 2005 budget. We also expect consolidation by Zentiva in days to come. Komercni was pushed below CZK 3,400, and we reiterate our view that above CZK 3,400 the stock is better offered by both domestic as well as international sellers.

The November current account balance is to be released today at 10:00am CET. Patria expects a deficit of CZK 13.2bn; the market expects a deficit of CZK 32.5bn. In October the deficit was CZK 12.9bn.