The Czech market was closed yesterday as the country celebrated its Freedom and Democracy Day. Trading resumes today. Erste Bank will be priced up at the opening after the stock rallied over 3% in Vienna yesterday and reached its all time high there. We expect a market opening at CZK 1,170 vs the CZK 1,145 close from Tuesday. Cesky Telecom continues to trade in a larger than average volume, with most of the trading being via bloc trades ahead of the government decision on the sale method of its 51% stake. Given the recent agency reports, we believe the decision will be taken next Wednesday and the offering will be launched shortly afterwards. We continue to expect the sale to be completed by the year end via a capital market transaction.
Milan Procházka, Patria Finance