Kyiv-listed Ukrainian stocks started the new year on a positive note, rising after the long-awaited deal with Russia regarding a new 5-year natural gas transit contract for 2020-2024. Preliminary estimates said that the country’s economy will receive benefits of near UAH 150bn (USD 6.2bn) from the deal in addition to the direct revenues from pipeline transit services for Gazprom. The agreement foresees the transit of at least 65bn cubic meters of Russian gas in 2020, and USD 40bn cu-m per annum thereafter. Payment for these volumes is guaranteed even in case of less pumping through the Ukrainian pipeline system.
The PFTS index edged up 0.6% last week to close at 512 points. Raiffeisen Bank Aval (BAVL) was the growth leader, advancing by 4.0% to 32.00 kopecks per share. CentrEnergo (CEEN) was unchanged at UAH 9.26 while DonbasEnergo (DOEN) slipped 1.1% to UAH 25.00.
London-listed natural gas producer JKX Oil&Gas (JKX) surged by 20% to GBp 28.50 after the company published an upbeat operational update for 2019. JKX’s gas extraction rose by 20% YoY to 10,700 boepd last year, with more new wells having been completed in Ukraine in December. The company’s CapEx amounted to USD 26mn in 2019 and its net cash position stood at USD 15mn as of Dec 31. Shares of JKX’s close peer Regal Petroleum (RPT) were also on the rise, appreciating by 11% to GBp 24.30. Iron ore giant Ferrexpo (FXPO) dropped by 6.1% to GBp 146 despite the company’s announcement of a special dividend of 6.6 US cents per share. The ex-rights date for the dividend passed on Friday (Jan 10). MHP (MHPC) was inactive, remaining at the USD 9.00 level.
In Warsaw trading, Kernel (KER) has been a clear bright spot in the last two weeks, jumping from PLN 44.00 to PLN 48.80 per share, a gain of 12%.
On the currency front, the hryvnia has given up 1.0% since the start of 2020 against the dollar to 23.92 UAH/USD. The National Bank’s report that the country’s foreign currency reserves reached a 7-year high of USD 25.3bn did not appear to influence the market.
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