Financial news

Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) data by end-September shows that every fifth corporate loan is overdue. The data is part of the quarterly reports on the condition of the banking system. It was again in end-September that the highest increase in the funds attracted from the corporate sector since the beginning of 2012 was registered – BGN 687 million. The combined profit of the banking system continues to grow, while loan write-off expenses to drop. Nine banks met the end of the third quarter with losses, while 17 – with lowered profits. Two banks – UniCredit Bulbank and DSK Bank, were responsible for 2/3rds of the total profit of the banking system. First Investment Bank maintained the third position in terms of assets after ousting Raiffeisen in August. The BNB notes that the banking system maintains good financial indicators. The level of the systems’ capital adequacy (16.59%) and Tier 1 capital (15.12%) is maintained. At the same time, the volume of bad corporate loans in end-September was BGN 7.5 billion with their share in the portfolio being 20.1% compared to 19.4% in June. Non-performing housing loans maintained their level from the previous quarter – 16% or BGN 1.5 billion.

Bulgaria's state budget registered a surplus worth 248,1 million levs end-September 2012, the ministry of finance reported. Only for September the state budget is 140,5 million levs. This is a good score especially after Finmin Djankov recently stated there would be Christmas bonuses for the pensioners with the lowest pensions in case there was a surplus in the state budget. The revenues to the state budget for the period January-September 2012 are 19,98 billion levs or 69,5% from the plan for the whole year. Compared to the same period of 2011 the revenues grow by 8.9% (1.63 billion levs). This is mainly due to more revenues from VAT and excises. The total sum from tax revenues (inclusive of insurances) end-September is 15,99 billion levs which amount to 74,1% from the plan for 2012. The VAT revenues are 5.25 billion levs (74% from the yearly plan), from excises - 3.01 billion levs (72,9% from the yearly plan). Social and health insurance - 4.07 billion levs. (73,3% from the plan for 2012). The state budget expenses end-September total to 19,735 billion levs (66,1% from the set for 2012 expenditures). The capital expenditures are 2.132 billion levs. (40,1% from the planned for 2012). The country's fiscal reserve end-September is 7.2 billion levs.

	Mineral Fuels, Tailoring Products, Canning, Perfumery and Cosmetics, Furniture, Meat Products, Wine, Wood-processing Industry

Privatization

Another 12,796 shares of CEZ Distribution Bulgaria JSC were traded on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) at an average selling price of BGN 1,452.99 per share for a total of BGN 18.6 mln. Thus, only 2,441 stocks out of the 63,624 offered by the State have remained unsold. The maximum price at today’s auction was BGN 1,490 per share and the minimum – BGN 1,444 per share. The remaining 103 shares of CEZ Electro Bulgaria JSC, representing about 2% of the company’s capital, attracted no interest.

Companies

The deal for the Bulgarian Telecommunication Company (with trademark VIVACOM) is already a fact. The Official Journal of the EU published information for the authorization of the concentration between the BTC, Russian VTB Bank and Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB). The decision for the published notice was taken by the European Commission on 22 October. The full text of the decision has not yet been published, this will happen after all professional secrets have been terminated. The value of the purchase is estimated at EUR 130 million. Buyers will cover and the debts of the company, which amount to EUR 588 million.

A rally in Sofia against environmental organizations will be held today by miners from mines at Chelopech, Asarel and Elatsite. "We want to keep our jobs, which are in danger of unwarranted attacks against mining, made by alleged environmentalists", explained the trade federations of the miners at CITUB and Podkrepa. According to the ecology organizations of "Coalition for sustainable development" residents near the three copper-mines are subjected to the harmful effects that are not controlled by no one. They give the example of transport of poisonous concentrates and tailing ponds, which pollute the rivers.

Major Bulgarian pharmaceutical producer Sopharma has swallowed "Bulgarian Rose Sevtopolis", a local producer of pills. The paperwork for the merger has been submitted to Bulgaria's Financial Supervision Commission. Bulgarian Rose Sevtopolis – based in the Central Bulgarian town of Kazanlak – is a successor of the former state-owned Bulgarian pharmaceutical and cosmetics producer Bulgarian Rose; it has been listed on the Sofia Stock Exchange since 2003. Sopharma announced back in June 2012 that it is working to take over Bulgarian Rose Sevtopolis as well as some other smaller pharmaceutical firms – Unipharm and Medica.

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has scheduled the country's nuclear power plant referendum for January 27, 2013. The referendum was initially triggered by the oppositional Bulgarian Socialist Party's desire to revive the abandoned Belene nuclear power plant project. The pro-Belene party launched a petition for a referendum on the Russian-Bulgarian project's fate after the ruling centrist-right GERB scrapped the project in March. The original question of the petition was: "Should nuclear energy be developed in Bulgaria through the building of a Nuclear Plant at the Belene site?" However, GERB's parliamentary majority decided to edit the question, removing any specific reference to the Belene project. The ruling party stated that a referendum on a particular project would be unconstitutional. The edited question, which was proposed by GERB, postulates: "Should atomic energy be developed in Bulgaria through the building of a new Atomic Plant?" – and it is the question that will be answered by Bulgarian voters on January 27.

Europe

Shares in Telefónica’s German business rose more than 4 per cent on Tuesday in the first day of trading following Europe’s largest initial public offering of the year. In what many heralded as a positive sign for the still sluggish IPO market, shares in Telefónica Deutschland, which priced at 5.60p a share on Monday, were trading as high as 5.84p by the close of trading. The €1.5bn offering on Monday was the biggest German IPO in five years and comes amid hopes that the frozen European IPO market may be thawing on the back of central bank action, which has calmed the market since September. There has been a mini-spate of deals in recent weeks, including one from Talanx, the German insurer, and Direct Line, the insurance arm of RBS. Deal activity is still thin on the ground and sharply lower than last year, however. European IPOs have raised nearly $10bn so far this year, compared with $37bn in the same period in 2011. But bankers said the Telefónica Deutschland IPO could act as an “icebreaker” to the market, helping to restore confidence and prove to companies and investors that larger deals can still get done. Telefónica, the Spanish telecom group and parent company, will remain the majority shareholder of Telefónica Deutschland. The Spanish parent has been looking to raise cash to pay down its net debts of €57bn.

America

Walt Disney Co. agreed to buy George Lucas's Lucasfilm Ltd. for $4.05 billion, pressing Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger's $15 billion bet on creative franchises by adding "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones." Lucas, 68, the sole owner, will get half in cash and the rest in stock, making him a major investor in the film, theme park and TV company, according to a statement yesterday from Burbank, California-based Disney. The first of a new trilogy of "Star Wars" films will be released in 2015, Disney said. The deal furthers Iger's pursuit of marquee content in an era marked by technology changes, such as $8-a-month video streaming and free game downloads, that disrupted Hollywood's traditional revenue sources. Iger, who paid a combined $11.2 billion for Pixar and Marvel, said memorable characters will be valuable no matter what medium they appear in. The Lucas acquisition brings the "Star Wars" pictures, which have generated $4.54 billion in worldwide ticket sales -- second only to Warner Bros.' "Harry Potter," according to Box Office Mojo. The "Indiana Jones" films have collected $1.95 billion.

Asia

Real estate investors and developers are abandoning a two-year foray into China’s provincial cities and switching back to Shanghai and Beijing, where offices are fuller, rents are higher and home prices are stabilizing. Of the $34 billion of direct investment in commercial real estate in 2010 and 2011 combined, 20 percent went to China’s 50 biggest second-tier cities, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., up from 5 percent in the prior two years. That percentage for second-tier cities may decline in the “immediate future,” according to Michael Klibaner, China head of research for the world’s second-biggest commercial realtor. A three-year building boom, fueled by government stimulus, has pushed up office vacancy rates in second-tier cities such as Chongqing and Chengdu to almost 40 percent, while rising land prices have squeezed homebuilders’ profit margins. Investors and developers are refocusing on Beijing and Shanghai, where prime offices are close to full occupancy and rents are on par with cities such as New York and Sydney, according to Cushman & Wakefield Inc. China’s economy expanded 7.4 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, a seventh-straight quarterly slowdown, as Europe’s debt crisis crimped exports and the government’s property crackdown cooled domestic demand.

November 1 - Day of the Leaders of the Bulgarian Revival

November 1 is one of the official holidays in the Republic of Bulgaria. On this day, people celebrate and pay respect to the achievements and memory of the leaders of the Bulgarian Revival – to all those enlighteners, revolutioners and fighers for liberation, who played a major role for the preserving of the spiritual values and the morality of our nation. The first unofficial celebration of the holiday took place in Plovdiv in 1909. People paid respect to their heros nationwide which in 1922 gave reason to Stoyan Omarchevski (back then Minister of the People’s Enlightment) to propose to the Council of Minister to declare November 1a national holiday and a day-off for all schools in Bulgaria. Despite its great cultural and national importance, the day of the leaders of the Bulgarian Revival was forbidden in 1945, when the Government decided Bulgaria already had a similar holiday – the Day of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, which is still celebrated as the day of the Bulgarian enlightment and culture. The celebration of November 1 was resumed in 1990 on the initiative of the Mati Bulgaria union.

On that day:  Teteven Public Holiday