Kyiv-listed Ukrainian stocks were mostly lower last week amid dry trading activity and a news flow dominated by political noise after incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and entertainment mogul Vladimir Zelenskiy entered the Apr 21 presidential election runoff. The hottest topic of the week was whether the two candidates would agree on televised debates, with one of the proposals being to hold the debates at the national Olympiyskiy Stadium.
The PFTS index, which tracks seven Kyiv-listed stocks, shed 1.4% to end at 565 points. UkrNafta (UNAF) was little changed after a solid gain in the last week of March. The stock traded at USD 190 per share. Meanwhile, Raiffeisen Bank Aval (BAVL) continued to suffer after the bank proposed a smaller-than-expected dividend from its FY18 profit. The BAVL stock slumped 10% to 33.50 kopecks. Additional pressure on the stock came from a report that Raiffeisen Aval’s net profit for February was sharply lower than in January. In the utility sector, CentrEnergo (CEEN) dipped by 10 kopecks to UAH 11.90.
On the London Stock Exchange, Ferrexpo (FXPO) gained 12.5% to GBp 277 per share after the price of iron ore burst above USD 90 per tonne, a jump of 7% in one week, on talk of a supply crunch after warnings of lower output from the industry’s big three producers. Natural gas extractor Regal Petroleum (RPT) declined by 2.9% to GBp 42.55 while poultry producer MHP (MHPC) rose by 4.4% to USD 10.75.
In Warsaw trading, Kernel (KER) recovered the preceding week’s decline, bouncing back by 6.2% to PLN 52.80. Crop grower Agroton (AGT) added 3.6% to PLN 3.44 while Astarta (AST) fell 4.0% to PLN 26.10.
On the currency front, the hryvnia found itself in a good shape, gaining 2.2% to 26.70 UAH/USD. The National Bank reported that the country’s foreign currency reserves increased by USD 400mn or 2.1% MoM to USD 20.6bn in March. The NBU said that its net purchases on the interbank market were USD 162mn over the month. Ukraine’s foreign reserves now cover around 3.5 months of imports.
POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
- Ukraine Awaiting Zelenskiy Response to Poroshenko’s Debate Challenge
STOCKS IN THE NEWS
- CentrEnergo Approves 68-Kopeck Dividend for FY18
- Ferrexpo’s Pellet Output Slips 1.8% YoY in 1Q19
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