Today, KB should submit the results of its pre-privatization audit to the government. The government will determine the size of the guarantees it is willing to give the potential buyer based on the audit results. The government decision on the guarantees was originally scheduled for early September, but news emerged last week that the decision may be postponed until early October. Despite this, the stock gained last week, probably on high (too high, in our view) market expectations concerning the guarantees. There may be more news on KB this week; in particular, we expect government officials (Ministry of Finance ?) to clarify the timing of the government’s decision on the guarantees. Regardless of when the government decision is made, an information memorandum for investors should be released in early September.
(Ondřej Daťka)