Бюлетин – 18.11.2024 – Shelly Group confirms annual targets after exceptional 9 months

Market overview:

The main Bulgarian index SOFIX decreased this week by 0.69% to 853.51 points. The broad index BGBX40 decreased this week by 0.54% to 167.72 points and BGREIT decreased this week to 212.88 points, down by 0.26%.

Corporate News:

Advance Terrafund (ATER) published their October bulletin. During the month of October they managed to acquire 291 daa additional agricultural land at 1,698 BGN/daa, reaching a total of 181,531 daa in their portfolio. The new agricultural year started October 1 and their expected revenue from it is BGN 9.11mln, which is 4.22% below the expected revenue from 2023-2024 of BGN 9.53mln. The collected rent from the new period stands at 15.5%, while 2023-2024 is at 77.6%. More about ATER can be found on our Advance Terrafund – SIS page.

Shelly Group (SLYG) announced their Q3 consolidated results. After exceptional 9 months, the consolidated sales grew 47.2% YoY to EUR 65mln, EBIT grew 29.2% to EUR 15.4mln and Net Profit grew 38.5% to EUR 13.8mln. The customer base grew over 30% over the last 9 months to 1.7mln. The lower growth of EBIT is explained by the massive increase in Sales expenses, among which Marketing and Advertising ballooned from EUR 1.7mln to EUR 7.8mln. The management is confident that the targeted annual results of revenues of EUR 105mln and EBIT of EUR 26mln will be reached. More about the company – Shelly Group – SIS page.

Paysera (PAY) announced consolidated results for the 6 months of 2024. Revenues increased 19% YoY to BGN 2mln as a result of the increase in the client base and the portfolio of services. They also announced a wide range of new products and services, all of which would target increase in the customer base by either slashing existing fees or reaching new markets and currencies.

Economic News:

The inflation rate rose to 1.8% in October, up from a more than 3 years low of 1.2% in the previous month. Prices accelerated for food & non-alcoholic beverages (2.8% vs 2.4% in September), housing & utilities (4.2% vs 2.7%), and alcoholic beverages & tobacco (5.8% vs 5.6%), while it rebounded for recreation & culture (0.4% vs -1.4%). Meanwhile, prices fell at the same pace for transport (-4.7%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose by 1.8% in October, marking the highest increase in almost 2 years and rebounding from a 1% fall in the previous month.

The economy expanded by 2.2% YoY in the 3rd quarter of 2024, following a 2.1% rise in the previous 3-month period. It marked the fastest pace of economic growth in six quarters, as final consumption rose 4.6% and both imports and exports of goods & services grew at 2.9% and 0.1% respectively. In contrast, gross fixed capital formation fell 4.9%.

Bulgaria’s trade deficit widened to BGN 1,300.5 million in September 2024 from BGN 508.5 million in the corresponding month of the previous year, marking the highest deficit since December 2023, preliminary estimates showed. Exports fell 9.3% year-on-year to BGN 6,645.2 million, driven by lower sales to the EU (-5%) and non-EU countries (-16.6%). Meanwhile, imports marginally fell by 0.2% to BGN 7,945.7 million, as purchases from the EU dropped (-1.6%), while imports from non-EU countries rose (+2.8%). In the first nine months of the year, the country’s trade gap widened to BGN 8,816.9 from BGN 6,558.2 million in the same period last year.

Full report can be downloaded here.