POLITICS
Calin Georgescu, 62, who ran as an independent, has won the first round of Romania’s presidential elections, according to the electoral commission. With all of the ballots counted, Georgescu had secured 22.93% of the vote. Liberal leader Elena Lasconi, 52, came second with 19.18%. Georgescu will face off against Lasconi in a runoff in two weeks. The surprising outcome has left many political observers wondering how most local surveys were off, putting Georgescu behind at least five other candidates. Read more here.
FINANCE
-Romania’s Finance Ministry on Monday (Nov 25) rejected all bids for government bonds maturing in April 2028, as it deemed the bid price unacceptable, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) data showed.
-Fitch Ratings has upgraded Romanian Garanti Bank S.A.’s (GBR) Long Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘BB’ from ‘BB-‘. The Outlook is Stable. Fitch has also upgraded GBR’s Viability Rating (VR) to ‘bb’ from ‘bb-‘ and Shareholder Support Rating (SSR) to ‘bb-‘ from ‘b-‘.
COMPANIES
-In the past 16 years, the number of microenterprises, small and middle-sized companies has increased by almost 40% in Romania, with the growth primarily supported by a rising number of microenterprises, Ziarul Financiar reported citing the National Trade Register Office (ONRC) data.
-The number of companies that suspended their activity across Romania in January-September 2024 was 13481, up 19.29% on an annual basis, data published by the ONRC showed. Most suspensions were recorded in Bucharest (1619 up 20.64%), followed by the counties of Cluj (837 up 10.13%), Iasi (603 up 26.68%) Bihor (588 up 34.55%) and Brasov (578 up 10.73%).
REAL ESTATE
Bucharest’s Calea Victoriei, the main shopping street in Romania, ranks as 38th most expensive high street globally, climbing two positions, as rents in the Romanian capital have in the past year posted the 7th strongest increase among the 138 markets analyzed in Cushman & Wakefield’s Main Streets Across the World report.
TODAY’S MARKET DATA
EXCHANGE RATE OF THE NATIONAL LEU CURRENCY
| EUR 4.9767 | GBP 5.9683 |
| USD 4.7456 | CHF 5.3349 |
| BGN 2.5445 | MDL 0.2621 |
(Source: National Bank of Romania BNR)
BUCHAREST STOCK EXCHANGE (BVB) INDICES
| BET % -0.89% BET-TR -0.89% BET-FI -1.17% BET-NG -0.38% BET-EF -0.63% BET-XT -0.99%, BET-BK -1.67% BET AeRO -0.66% ROTX -0.83% |
CAPITAL MARKET COMMENTARY
| Bucharest stocks closed in the red on Monday as investors were surprised by the results of the first round of Romania’s presidential elections. All eyes will be on the second round scheduled to be held on December 8. Meanwhile, in Europe markets were higher, buoyed by positive sentiment stateside. |
BET Index Constituents
| Company | Price | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| ANTIBIOTICE S.A. | 2.6800 | -2.55 |
| AQUILA PART PROD COM | 1.2700 | -3.05 |
| BANCA TRANSILVANIA S.A. | 27.8000 | -1.42 |
| BRD – GROUPE SOCIETE GENERALE S.A. | 18.5000 | -1.91 |
| C.N.T.E.E. TRANSELECTRICA | 38.8500 | -3.72 |
| Digi Communications N.V. | 65.2000 | -0.31 |
| FONDUL PROPRIETATEA | 0.3180 | -2.21 |
| MedLife S.A. | 5.9100 | -3.59 |
| OMV PETROM S.A. | 0.7230 | -1.57 |
| ONE UNITED PROPERTIES | 0.4670 | -2.81 |
| Premier Energy PLC | 19.6000 | -0.20 |
| PURCARI WINERIES PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED | 14.8600 | 0.00 |
| S.N. NUCLEARELECTRICA S.A. | 41.6000 | -1.30 |
| S.N.G.N. ROMGAZ S.A. | 5.2500 | -0.94 |
| S.N.T.G.N. TRANSGAZ S.A. | 23.5000 | 0.64 |
| S.P.E.E.H. HIDROELECTRICA S.A. | 120.0000 | 0.00 |
| SOCIETATEA ENERGETICA ELECTRICA S.A. | 12.7400 | 0.00 |
| Sphera Franchise Group | 39.5000 | -0.50 |
| TERAPLAST SA | 0.4440 | 0.00 |
| TTS (TRANSPORT TRADE SERVICES) | 4.5750 | -4.59 |
