Solidere
In the last week of March, peace prospects were
pushed forward after the announcement of an
American-Syrian summit in Geneva on the
26th. Investors hoped that the advancement of
the peace talks would give the locally and
internationally listed Solidere a solid boost of confidence. Nevertheless, uncertainty about the outcome of the Geneva summit pushed down Solidere’s GDR by 2.9%, from $8.575 to
$8.325. By late March, negative news from the Geneva summit shattered all
hopes of improving peace prospects anytime soon. Foreign investors quickly
reacted, sending Solidere’s GDR on its biggest slide in quite some time to
close at $7.9, down 5.11% from its previous closing of $8.325.
In the first week of April, internationally listed emerging markets equities stumbled
amid the turmoil on western markets. The largest ever intra-day drop of
the Nasdaq on April 4 brought a fall in all Lebanese GDRs, with Solidere being
the least affected by western markets’ volatility. Solidere’s GDRs closed at
$7.875, down 0.32% from $7.9.
AUDI
AUDI started the second half of March
with a positive outlook backed by an
increasing public hope of a near-term future
unraveling of the peace process. AUDI’s
GDR was up 2.3% to close at $22.25 on
March 24.
The end of March was marked by the
bank’s much-anticipated general assembly
on March 28, where a lower-than-expected
dividend payout ratio of 30% was
announced, much inferior to last year’s figure of 70%. This news sent
AUDI’s GDR down 2.7% to close at $21.65.
Early April brought more bad news to Audi in the form of increased
volatility on the western equities markets front. Joining a number of emerging
markets equities, AUDI’s GDR recorded a 1.15% fall and closed at
$21.4 on April 7.
BLOM
BLOM, still one of the most solid banks in
Lebanon, finished the third week of March
with a slight increase in its GDR. On March 24,
BLOM’s GDR gained a modest 0.09% to
close at $26.975, up from $26.950. This positive
move was an indicator of investors’ optimism about the outcome of the American-Syrian Geneva summit on March 26. But by
the end of the month, it appeared that the
peace negotiations had reached a status quo. Accordingly, BLOM’s GDR maintained its previous price and closed on
March 31 with a 0% change at $26.975. The first week of April saw increasing
volatility in the western equities markets, exhibited mainly in the Nasdaq’s
rollercoaster ride, with the majority of emerging markets equities suffering
from collateral damage. BLOM’s GDR fell 2.9% to end the week at $26.2.
But encouraging news emerged from BLOM’s general assembly which
approved a $1.52 per share dividend and declared a 14.5% increase in first-quarter
2000 profits.
BLC
BLC entered the last two weeks of March hoping
that the general assembly meeting on March 22
would renew investors’ faith in the bank.
In a period affected by stagnant peace negotiations,
BLC’s GDR cautiously maintained the
price of $9.675.
Following the bank’s recent change of management,
as a result of the aforementioned
general assembly, investors appeared much
more confident in the appointment of the new chairman. They swiftly reacted to send BLC’s GDR up 2.3% to end the month
at $9.9.
Early April was marked by large volatility in the western equities markets, coupled
with more negative news emerging from the recent American-Syrian
Geneva summit. All of this combined to send BLC’s GDR down 5.81%, from
$9.9 to $9.325.
