Бюлетин – 02.12.2024 – Trace Group with 71% increase in revenues

Market Overview – 25 Nov – 29 Nov

The main Bulgarian index SOFIX increased this week by 0.02% to 846.60 points. The broad index BGBX40 decreased this week by 0.23% to 166.09 points and BGREIT decreased this week to 212.33 points, down by 0.23%.

Corporate News

Trace Group (T57) published Q3 consolidated result. Sales increased 71.5% to BGN 444.5mln as a result of the contracts, which the company landed through the year. The largest accounts in OPEX, however, external expenses rose by 77% to BGN 230mln and personnel expense rose by 84% to BGN 153.7mln, which lead to OPEX increasing by 76%. This resulted in PBT almost equal to last years’ figure of BGN 19mln and Net Profit marginally decreasing to BGN 16.4mln.

Telelink Business Services (TBS) announced Q3 cons. results where revenues increased 10.4% to BGN 122.4mln. The increased expenses associated with the acquisition of 7IT in Croatia, however, together with the increase in operational personnel and the marketing and sales teams, drove profitability down where EBITDA decreased 2% to BGN 10.5mln and Net Profit shrunk 16% to BGN 4.7mln.

Wiser Technology / Bianor (BNR) published their results for Q3 where revenues shot up 260% to BGN 22.9mln largely owing to the acquisitions made over the period. The massive growth in personnel expense of 320% to BGN 14mln, however, together with the increased interest and financial expenses lead to Net Loss of BGN 0.6mln.

Chimimport (CHIM) published Q3 results where non-financial net revenues increased 17.3% to BGN 385.6mln. Additionally, their banking activities generated growth of 22% of net interest income to BGN 188.5mln. The resulting PBT jumped 48.5% to BGN 104.7mln and Net Profit rose 50.4% to BGN 93.8mln.

Fibank (FIB) published Q3 results where total income from bank operations increased marginally by BGN 3mln to reach BGN 443mln despite the serious growth in net interest income (15% to BGN 345mln) and net fee income (12% to BGN 127mln). The bank seems to be coping with the aftermath of the fallout with SG Group bond issue in Q4 2023 by restructuring the portfolio and positioning favorably.

Economic news

• Producer prices fell by 1.3% YoY in October, falling further from a 0.8% decline in the previous month and marking the largest drop in six months. The decrease was driven by a sharp fall in prices for electricity & gas (-11.1% vs. -1.6% in Sept). In contrast, prices rose for manufacturing (0.4% vs. -2.3%) and mining (26.5% vs. 13.5%).
• The business confidence indicator rose to 15.8 in November, up from a near four-year low of 13.3 in the previous month. Sentiment strengthened across several key areas, including the assessment of the current business situation (26.1 vs. 25.4 in October), expectations for the business environment over the next six months (6.3 vs. 2.3), and expected production activity over the next three months, which turned positive (13.5 vs. -3.3). Additionally, the level of orders slightly improved (-18 vs. -19.4) while employment expectations for the next three months (5.4 vs. 4.9) also strengthened. Meanwhile, selling price expectations (-1 vs. 2.3) returned to negative territory.
• The number of tourist arrivals in Bulgaria rose by 6% YoY to 953.1 thousand in October 2024, following a 4.6% increase the previous month.

Full report can be downloaded here.