At the end of a day of confusion about the top bids in KB, the Czech Press Agency quoted a “source” as saying that the top two bids are "between CZK 30 bil. and CZK 40 bil., rather in the upper end of the interval" (two newspapers present similar reports this morning and a deputy finance minister also dismissed the lower figures). That would point to the original scenario, i.e. CZK 35-38 bil. (CZK 1,535-1,666 per share) which was the market’s assumption until Wednesday morning, when a local paper reported a much lower range (CZK 25-30 bil.), citing a “credible source”. The worst might be over for the stock, it may recover today, but it could still be volatile in the coming days. According to Deputy Finance Minister T. Potmesil, the government’s privatization advisor should make an investor recommendation this week and Cabinet should decide next week (but perhaps not as early as Monday, when Cabinet is scheduled to meet).
Separately, KB’s AGM yesterday brought little relevant news. Very little was said about the outlook for 2001 and beyond; worth mentioning is only a target of 20% ROE by 2003 (in the past, KB spoke of 20% ROE as early as in 2002). The AGM news is relatively insignificant relative to the privatization news.
(Ondřej Daťka)