The PX-50 index fell by 0.64% on Friday as Komercni banka continued to weaken, leading the market downward; the stock lost 3.3% on a substantial volume. On the positive side, CEZ touched an all-time high intra-day, which it did not maintain, and Cesky Telecom (CT) rose by 2.40% on international demand, though its volume remained average. CT will remain a key stock to watch in coming days as Telsource plans to offer its 27% stake in the company on the market ahead of CT’s considered privatization (see below). We expected such a development in time (see our last Cesky Telecom report, dated September 16). Telsource’s move does not change any fundamental-value-related issues for CT stock, but, as 87 mil. of the company’s shares will be offered, we expect short-term volatility and price weakening--we expect that the share price could stabilize at the CZK 270-280 level (the Friday close was CZK 321.20), with investors awaiting further information and the offer timing. Total volume in the SPAD trading system reached USD 29.81 mil. on Friday.
Milan Procházka