Snaige, LASCO push up Baltic Index

Record-high gains by Lithuania's refrigerator maker Snaige last week pushed up the Baltic Index of the most capitalized Baltic stocks.

The Baltic List's capitalization, meanwhile, surged mainly thanks to the listing of the Latvian Shipping Company.

The Baltic Index, now comprised of 14 stocks, rose 1.19 percent to 157.93 points.

Five of the list's stocks posted gains, five were losers and four stood firm over the week.

After the addition of LASCO, the list's capitalization grew from 2.7 billion euros ($2.43 billion) to 2.79 billion euros last week despite significant losses by key list stock Hansapank.

LASCO increased the list's turnover eight times from 3.4 million euros to 25 million euros with Latvian stocks contributing 88 percent of the turnover, Estonian 10.5 percent and Lithuanian 1.5 percent.

Estonian and Latvian stocks on the list were also leaders on their home bourses last week, securing over 90 percent of the stock trade there.

Movements in stock prices were narrow on the Tallinn Stock Exchange last week, which ended amid upbeat moods after the market had received a boost from rising European stocks.

The TALSE index lost 1.22 percent week on week, finishing at 172.46 points. The price index of Estonia's Baltic List shares inched up 0.3 percent to 144.81 points

The total turnover of 313 deals concluded during the five days was 46.77 million kroons ($2.9 million), of which Baltic List shares contributed 90 percent.

Hansapank slid 1.87 percent during the week to 204.97 kroons, the total turnover from the 144 trades concluded reached 32.43 million kroons. With a turnover of 5.21 million kroons, Norma was off 1.25 percent at 61.65 kroons.

Eesti Telekom ended the week flat at 70.10 kroons on a turnover of 2.25 million kroons.

LASCO shares last week took the leading position on Latvia's stock market in terms of turnover, while the company's share price fluctuated greatly amid nervous waiting on developments concerning the stock's fate in court.

A court ruled late last week that the shares be unfrozen after the June auction sale of 51 percent of the company's shares. The shares were frozen by a Riga court following the auction. But the case is still not over.

The RICI price index slid 0.93 percent to 207.68 points, while the capitalization DJRSE index gained 1.07 percent to 174.73 points.

The RICI has gained 28 points since the beginning of the year while the DJRSE has lost 13 points. Compared with July 2001, both indexes have increased 30 percent to 40 percent.

The index of Latvian stocks, traded on the Baltic List and calculated in euros, fell 8.63 percent over the last week to 194.74 points.

Stock turnover on the bourse last week totaled 13.2 million lats ($21.8 million) with LASCO accounting for more than 99 percent of that amount at 13.1 million lats.

LASCO's share price last week fluctuated from 0.27 lats to 0.31 lats, closing the week at 0.31 lats.

The share price of Ventspils Nafta, the oil transport firm that purchased LASCO shares at the auction for cash but could not take any steps regarding the stock throughout the week, stood flat at 0.67 lats on trade of 18,600 lats.

The natural gas supplier Latvijas Gaze gained 0.93 percent over the week to 5.45 lats on trade of just 65,650 lats.

Trade on the Lithuanian stock exchange was sporadic last week. Following rather active trading in the first half of the week due to excellent performances from the most liquid companies, the market was apathetic again by week's end.

The benchmark price index Litin-10 climbed 2.43 percent to 1219.64 points. The blue chip index Litin edged up 0.01 percent to 306.76 points, and the broad index Litin-G climbed 0.28 percent to 904.54 points.

The equity turnover for the week reached 11.2 million litas ($3.15 million), with 1.26 million litas generated in Baltic List securities trading.

The price index of Lithuanian Baltic List shares climbed 2.5 percent to 150.45 points, close to a record high.

Refrigerator producer Snaige was at the center of attention. The company jumped 8.62 percent to a record-high price of 63 litas on a turnover of 345,500 litas.

Snaige's price rise can be attributed to the fact that the company increased its sales by 38 percent to 116 million litas in the first half of 2002. Also, forecasts by the company's management that net profit for the first six months of this year will exceed the net profit earned in all of 2001.

Snaige earned a 9.55 million litas net profit by Lithuanian accounting standards (10.19 million litas by international accounting standards) in 2001, while net profit reached 3.2 million litas in the first-quarter of 2002.

On the Official List, Lietuvos Telekomas edged down 0.88 percent to 1.12 litas in trade worth 177,600 litas. The electronics firm Vilniaus Vingis climbed 8.41 percent to 5.80 litas on a turnover of 116,800 litas.