The topic of renewed IMF lending was the cornerstone for the Ukrainian stock market last week. News that the IMF board will finally look at Ukraine’s loan program this Wednesday (Sept 14) gave firm ground for optimism among local traders, and expectations are mostly positive that the Washington-based lender will disburse a new USD 1.0bn loan instalment. Although the tranche would be below the initially agreed sum of USD 1.7bn, it will, importantly, unlock a batch of additional financial aid from other Western donors. The generally perceived idea is that if Ukraine gets resumes its IMF programs, this is a sign that reforms in the county are more or less on track.
The UX index rose 1.9% to close at 738 points on Friday (Sept 9). The gauge has reached a 10-month high after a quick rally that started in the last week of August. Among individual stocks, UkrNafta (UNAF) was unchanged at UAH 95 despite the ongoing shareholders’ conflict; yet another shareholder meeting promised for Sept 15 was cancelled. Shareholders were supposed to vote to affirm a tax restructuring deal with the government, but state-owned Naftogaz, which is the majority shareholder of UkrNafta, failed to obtain approval of the meeting’s agenda from UkrNafta’s board. CentrEnergo (CEEN) remained in a growth trend, gaining 3.0% to UAH 9.32. Top financial name Raiffeisen Aval (BAVL) climbed above 11 kopecks per share for the first time in two years, jumping in the intra-day trading on Sept 6 to 13.4 kopecks, on some aggressive speculative purchases. The stock ended the week at 11.12 kopecks.
London-listed Ferrexpo (FXPO) gained 1.9% to GBp 67.50 after two weeks of correction, while MHP (MHPC) was down 1.6% to USD 9.25. In Warsaw, Astarta (AST) fell 2.3% ignoring news that the company has kicked off its sugar-refining season earlier than planned thanks to a solid sugar beet harvest this year. Donbass-based Agroton (AGT) slipped 7.9% to PLN 3.14 after a 40% surge over the preceding week. Top liquid name Kernel (KER) jumped 5.4% to PLN 62.30 after the company prolonged its current USD 300mn loan facility.
On the interbank market, the hryvnia inched down by 10 kopecks (0.4%) against the dollar to close at 26.70 UAH/USD on Friday (Sept 9).
POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
- Kyiv Provincial Governor Disappears Amid Small-Scale Bribery Probe
- Ukraine’s Foreign Reserves Flat at USD 14.1bn in August
STOCKS IN THE NEWS
- CentrEnergo Says It Will Switch Power Units to Steam Coal
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