A week marked by the government announcing and swiftly restructuring the state-run television station and giving signs of privatizing its electricity sector within an acceptable time frame was little distinguished by activity on the Beirut Bourse. The government’s step was widely welcomed as part of its bid towards public administrative reform. A pick-up in market activity will naturally take a little time to discern as investors’ confidence is built up gradually.
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) followed an upward movement this week, ending at 529.94, as a drop in Lebanon Holdings was offset by a rise in Solidere “A”. The approaching Adha holiday next week will be providing sufficient diversions to act as a dampener on activity. Most Lebanese GDRs again slipped back, with foreign investor perception of Middle East equities perhaps clouded somewhat by regional events.
Activity in bank shares was very limited as only Bank of Beirut “C” (BoB) and Byblos “C” showed signs of life. BoB repeated last week’s scene by injecting 500 shares daily at an unmoved price of $7.563. On the other hand, Byblos lost 1.8 percent on a single trade session when 9,000 shares changed hands at $1.688. Bank stocks generally have been quite stationary since the beginning of the year, hampered by sluggish economic conditions and investor sentiment towards local equities as a whole. Banks’ GDRs continued their journey south, as BLOM dropped 3.6 percent, while Audi edged back 1.5 percent.
Activity in Solidere reflected the general humdrum atmosphere in the market in general, as only a minimal 71,798 shares were traded, plunging by 31 percent from last week’s low level. The company’s “A” share managed to appreciate this week as its price closed 6.82 percent higher at $5.875, while the “B” share maintained its position at $6.125 on thin volume of 5,983. Solidere’s GDR was the least affected of the Lebanese GDRs by the volatility of western markets, having retreated somewhat itself recently, closing unchanged at $5.8.
Ciments Libanais witnessed one of its active weeks accounting for almost two thirds of the total bourse volume as 197,798 shares were exchanged at an unchanged price of $0.406. The company laid off 167 workers in an attempt to reduce losses incurred over the last three years. — ( Banque du Liban et d'Outre-Mer Sal )
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
