In the end of 2007 DSK Assets Management had accumulated the largest amount of assets in its mutual funds - BGN 130 million. The company had the third largest market share in the end of 2006 and made to number one in the end of 2007 as the assets of DSK Mutual Funds are growing faster than average in the field. In the end of 2007 DSK Growth was the largest contract fund. DSK Mutual Funds came second in the assets amount chart - DSK Balance concluded the year with assets of BGN 46 million. Third came DSK Standard which was placed second among the low-risk collective investment schemes. DSK Assets Management was established in the end of 2004. The shareholders in the company are DSK Bank (66%) and OTP Fund Management (34%).
Source: Zastrahovatel (09.01.2008)

The rights issued as part of FIA Bulgaria's capital raise operation will be traded between January 23 and February 5, 2008, the Bulgarian Stock Exchange said. The company will only increase its capital if at least 200,000 new shares are subscribed and paid. A total of 700,000 rights have been issued, the ratio between rights and new shares is 4:3. FIA Bulgaria plans to raise its share capital from BGN 700,000 to BGN 1.225 million through an issue of 525,000 shares with a par value of BGN 1 and an issue value of BGN 9.31. FIA Bulgaria deals with property trade and development. The company is part of FIA Corporation of Greece, which holds 67.09% of the capital.
Source: Pari (15.01.2008)

The combined assets of mutual funds in Bulgaria went up by BGN 575 million in 2007, compared to 2006. The number of mutual funds also went up from 40 in the beginning of 2007 to 65 as at the end of the year. The combined assets of the Bulgarian mutual funds as at the end of 2007 fell short of the BGN 1 billion forecast by analysts. The volume of assets of the collective investment schemes declined in November and December due to the correction on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE). Thus the combined assets of the asset management companies totalled BGN 880.28 million as at the end of December 2007, down by BGN 88.2 million compared to the end of October 2007. DSK Asset Management topped the ranking of asset management companies with BGN 129.71 million assets as at the end of December 2007. DSK Growth topped the ranking of high-risk profile funds with BGN 77.09 million assets as at the end of December 2007. DSK Balance occupied the number two spot among balanced funds trailing only behind Raiffeisen (Bulgaria) Balanced Fund (BGN 55.94 million assets). TBI Eurobond was the leader among conservative funds with BGN 14.77 million assets as at the end of December 2007. The assets of the asset management companies registered a 190-percent year on year increase in 2007.
Source: Pari (15.01.2008)

Bulgaria's financial regulator Wed licensed Municipal Bank Asset Management, an asset manager incorporated by Municipal Bank, partially owned by the city of Sofia. The company plans to market one balanced and one conservative mutual fund. The most optimistic target for the start of operation of the new funds is Jun, said executive director Vasil Trenev. Investbank, Raiffeisenbank, UBB and DSK Bank are the other local lenders in the business of managed assets. Corporate Commercial Bank secured the relevant licence in '07 but is yet to offer mutual funds. First FBH Asset Management markets mutual funds under the First Investment Bank brand.
Source: Dnevnik (31.01.2008)

The price band for the upcoming secondary offering of Sparky AD, the German-owned manufacturer of components for forklift and off-road trucks, is fixed at 45.70 to 55.50 levs per share, indicating a low-end target of 13.7 mln levs in proceeds. The secondary offering prospectus has won the necessary regulatory approval. The shares of the company are expected to be registered for trading on the Sofia stock exchange on February 21. Bids will be accepted no later than February 19. Majority owner Sparky Group plans to float 300,000 shares of 10% of the capital. Sofia International Securities acts as lead manager with DSK Bank as co-manager. In the wake of the clobbering that the local stock market took in January, analysts have been reluctant to make stead-fast prediction how the Sparky offering would fare. The price is attractive but the market situation is very rough, said Nadia Nedelcheva from Advance IPO Fund, a Karoll company. Given the current environment which saw the first cancelled IPO and the first IPO flop, the success of the offering is not a foregone conclusion, said the expert. Sparky AD estimates 2007 unconsolidated sales at 49.37 mln levs, up 60% over 2006. Profit is seen at 9 mln levs. Sparky Group also owns Lovech-based manufacturer of power tools Sparky Eltos.
Source: Dnevnik (08.02.2008)

DSK Asset Management presented its new mutual fund, DSK Imoti. The fourth collective investment scheme of the managing company starts offering units from Friday, March 7. The fund will invest in shares of real estate investment trusts traded on the Bulgarian and foreign regulated markets, the executive director of DSK Asset Management, Petko Krastev, said. The par value of DSK Imoti's units stands at BGN 100. The fund has a moderate to high risk profile. The net value of assets of DSK Asset Management amounts to BGN 106.6 million, which gives it a market share of 14.4%. Majority owner of the company is DSK Bank (66%). Hungary's OTP Fund Management holds 34%.
Source: Pari (07.03.2008)

The Bulgarian financial regulator Thursday licensed several mutual funds organised by Piraeus Asset Management and Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB) while DSK Asset Management said it will start selling on Friday shares in its newest fund, DSK Imoti. CCB Balanced Fund and CCB Fund assets are the first schemes launched by the CCB asset manager. It is not clear when the funds will begin selling shares to the public.
Source: Dnevnik (07.03.2008)

Bulgarians used ATMs to withdraw cash and make payments for a total amount of 8.959 bln levs in 2007, shows data of national card operator Borica. Cash withdrawals added up to 7.137 bln levs or almost 80% of recorded ATM transactions. POS terminal payments accounted for 12.7% of 2007's card transactions. There were 3,644,041 Borica-branded cards in circulation last year. Their growth has slowed from 49.3% in 2003 to 7.4% in 2007. In addition to the widening base, the loss of momentum is also due to the decision of some local banks to quit the Borica system and deploy an ATM network of their own. These include DSK Bank, United Bulgarian Bank, Postbank and First Investment Bank.
Source: Dnevnik (19.03.2008)

The increase of the capital of Alfa Credit REIT will be considered successful in case at least 500 thous shares are registered and paid. The emission to be issued is of 650 thous shares, and the issued rights will be the same number. The nominal value of the rights is BGN 1, while the issue value is BGN 1.16. The bourse code for the emission trade will be R3ALCR. The capital increase will be served by Bulbrokårs SPJSC and the accumulation account will be opened at DSK Bank.
Source: Darik Radio (11.04.2008)

Overgas signed a deal with DSK Bank for complex service of the customers consuming natural gas. The cooperation aims at securing the customers with different options for payment. According to their preferences the clients of Overgas will be able to pay for the consumed gas through a bank card of at any cash machine or POS terminal in the country. Since March 2008 Overgas clients are able to pay for the used natural gas through the Raiffeisenbank sevice - Communal payments.
Source: Agency Focus (11.04.2008)

The combined profits of the Bulgarian banks rose 50.2% year-on-year to 359 mln levs in Q1 2008, shows data of the central bank. The banking system assets stood at 59.5 bln levs at the end of the review period, up a 0.7% smidgen over the end of 2007 and 33.6 over March 2007. The nation's five biggest banks - UniCredit Bulbank, DSK Bank, United Bulgarian Bank, Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) EAD and Eurobank EFG Bulgaria, have marginally improved their combined market share to 56.8%. The second tier banks were sitting on 38.1% of the sector's assets by the end of Q1 2008 while the local branches of foreign banks held 5.1%. Gross credit and advances posted a quarterly gain of 2% while the yearly increase was 38.4% to 46.8 bln levs, said the central bank. Loans to businesses rose 6.8% in Q1 and 58.2% year-on-year. Mortgage loans recorded the highest growth rate during the review period of 7.8%. Consumer exposures are up 55% year-on-year with mortgage loans up 61.2%. The deposit portfolio of the banks was fractionally down quarter-on-quarter but posted a 33.3% increase year-on-year. Household deposits accounted for the biggest share of total deposits by the end of Q1 2008 at 38.1%, up 4.6% over end-2007 and 30.2% over Q1 2007. The Q1 total capital adequacy of the system was reported at 14.5% versus 13.8% by December 2007.
Source: Dnevnik (07.05.2008)

Diana Textile LTD - Sandanski manifactures fine top knitted products for ladies. Since the beginning of its activities, 9 years ago, the tailoring company is a partner of the world known Swedish commercial chain H & M, works for Top Shop, which is part of an international consortium Arcadia Group. So our production is sold to the major world markets - England and all EU countries and China, Hong Kong, etc., said manager Ivan Davchev. The company in Sandanski is a subsidiary of Greek entrepreneurs. The basic manifacture of products is in Sandanski, and the logistics and the materials are provided from Greece. The membership of our country in the EU facilitated business through incentives of the customs regime. Another advantage is that since the beginning of April we export products directly from the plant in Sandanski to our customers. We used to export through Greece, which meant additional costs, explained Ivan Davchev. Knitwear products are available in wide price range of 15-20 and 115 EUR, but they are mainly intended for the general public. In recent years the knitwear apparel established in fashion and lifestyle as it is easy to maintain and pleasant to wear. But it is expensive. It is becoming more and more difficult to manufacture it. In Greece there are notailoring factories any more. The rating of the textile industry in our country reduced as well after the increase in the last 10-15 years. The main reason is the competition from low prices, which cotton producing countries can afford to offer, from the so-called. group of Asian Tigers, and the cheap labour in developing countries. We plan to build our own manufacturing base in the region of Sandanski and to leave the premises that we currently rent. The investment will be at least EUR 1 million. All our machines are modern. We insist on the high quality of our production and this will continue in the future. We cooperate in partnership with UBB, Post Bank and DSK Bank, summarizes manager Ivan Davchev.
Source: Pari (10.05.2008)

Bulgarians investing in mutual funds expect to gain quick profits and prefer to invest over a one-year period, a survey organised by DSK Asset Management showed. Some 40% of those asked have specified an investment horizon of 12 months. The average sum that people with average and higher income are ready to invest is BGN 4,107. Only 7% of those asked are prepared to invest their money over a longer period of between three and five years. The short investment horizon and expectations for quick returns demonstrate the speculative mood of local investors, Petko Krastev, chairman of the board of directors and executive director of DSK Asset Management, said. In his opinion, however, collective investment schemes are not the best way of speculating on the market. Profitability is the number one factor in choosing a fund for 60% of the respondents, data show. Some 41% have mentioned the indicator risk of the collective scheme, while 23% think that one should know something about the company's investment policy. The Bulgarians who are inclined to invest in mutual funds, have an average to high income. Some 60% of them have a university degree, with over 20% occupying middle and upper-level managerial positions. Analysts have noted that potential investors in collective sc
Source: Pari (12.06.2008)

Assets of Bulgarian mutual funds have increased by BGN 24.2 million to BGN 653.5 million at the end of May 2008, data of the Bulgarian Association of Asset Management Companies (BAAMC) and calculations by the Pari daily showed. Until now, only 5% of people have invested their money in collective investment schemes, compared with 50% to 60% in Western Europe and 90% in the United States. For that reason, portfolio managers expect that fund assets will continue growing in the long run. Still, assets of Bulgarian contractual funds went down by BGN 207.78 million to BGN 672.5 million in the first quarter of 2008, compared with slightly more than BGN 880 million at the end of December 2008. This means that a lot of people have withdrawn their money during the largest stock exchange downfall. However, those people have lost because an investment in a fund has to be long-term in order to bring positive returns, analysts said. Elana Fund Management ranks first in terms of assets' net value, with BGN 97.8 million for the first five months of 2008. Compared with the previous month, Elana's assets have increased by BGN 1.3 million and encompass nearly 15% of the whole market. DSK Asset Management ranks second with a market share of 14.19%. The company has registered growth by slightly more than 2% by May 31 to BGN 92.7 million. The last of the big three is Raiffeisen Asset Management. The Austrian bank's funds for January-May 2008 have accumulated almost BGN 89 million. High-risk investment schemes were most preferred by investors in 2007 because of vigorous growth on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange and the development of Bulgaria's capital market. Still, people have underestimated the risk of such investments, brokers said. Following the market crash between October 2007 and March 2008, people have switched their preference to funds with a conservative and balanced profile. I think that market movement, as it happened, allowed investors to view their participation on this market from a more realistic perspective, Martin Nikolov, executive director of Elana Fund Management, said.
Source: Pari (23.06.2008)

Raiffeisenbank is the winner of this year's Bank of the Year award, bestowed by the Pari daily. Thus, the financial institution received the most prestigious prize in Bulgaria's banking sector for the third time in its history. The honourary awards committee announced the official results several hours before the prizes were bestowed. The other prizes were received by Piraeus Bank, for development dynamics, the United Bulgarian Bank, for efficiency, UniCredit Bulbank, for market share, and Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB) won the Clients' Award. This year, the committee is headed by minister of finance Plamen Oresharski. The other members are distinguished state officials, businessmen, and various representatives of state and economy. The ranking has been made on the basis of banks' financial indicators, published on the website of the Bulgarian National Bank. Only seven banks can boast the Bank of the Year award. These are: Raiffeisenbank, DSK Bank, Bank of Agricultural Credit, Postbank, Bulbank, First Investment Bank and United Bulgarian Bank. Raiffeisenbank was the only one of them to win the award three times, while Postbank, DSK Bank, and the Bank of Agricultural Credit were distinguished two times. The other highly valued prize is the Clients' Award. First Investment Bank is the all-time favourite of customers, having won the prize three times: in 2002, 2003 and 2006. Corporate Commercial Bank has won the award for the first time.
Source: Pari (04.07.2008)

MKB Unionbank JSC has funded with more than EUR 55 million the construction of Grand Mall Varna. The project costs EUR 129 million and investor is Orchid Developments Group Ltd. DSK Bank SPJSC and OTP Bank also participate with more than EUR 55 million, as the Hungarian company is responsible for the administration of the credit. A hypermarket of Carrefour will open doors in the commercial center. The complex will be managed by a team of Colliers International.
Source: Insurance.bg (10.07.2008)

Bulgarian banking system reported BGN 728.5 mln profit for the first half-year of 2008, according to BNB. This is BGN 238.19 mln or 48.57% more compared to H1’2007. The three biggest banks report profit over BGN 100 mln. Unicredit Bulbank has BGN 154.8 mln profit, DSK and UBB profits are BGN 117.8 mln and BGN 112.3 mln respectfully. Raiffeisenbank earned BGN 81.3 mln, Eurobank EFG – BGN 42.09 mln and Piraeus Bank – BGN 34.5 mln. Only two banks reported loss for the period - Emporiki Bank and Alpha Bank.
Source: Standart (01.08.2008)

Hungarian OTP Bank's subsidiaries have sold their stakes in Bulgarian insurers DSK Garancia and DSK Garancia Life to Groupama International, OTP said in a statement quoted by news agency Reuters on Wednesday. The transactions are part of the closing of the sale of Garancia, the Hungarian insurance unit of OTP, to Groupama which is one of France's top insurance companies. 'Along with the closing procedure of the Garancia transaction, further transactions related to the insurance firms of OTP Group will follow in the coming months when the required supervisory approvals will be obtained,' OTP said, without disclosing further details.
Source: Dnevnik (07.08.2008)

UniCredit Bulbank to build business complex UniCredit Bulbank with CEO Levon Hamparzumian finances the construction of Vertigo Building, a modern 17-floor business complex at Bulgaria Blvd, estimated at EUR 30 million. Investor is Casa Shick AD with 60% majority owner Mario Fumagali. The rest 40% belong to the Bulgarian-Italian joint venture Forte 6. The complex will house offices and trade spaces on 14,000 sq. m and parking with 350 parking lots, covering all international standards. The project will be ready by 2011.
Source: Pari (26.08.2008)

Rating agency Moody's Investors Services confirmed its evaluation for financial stability of DSK Bank, which is D+. It corresponds to the strong position of the institution on the bank market in Bulgaria and its leadership in retail banking, Moody's say. The investment rating of the bank, managed by Violina Marina remains unchanged: Baa3/P-3 with stable perspective. This rating is limited by Bulgaria's credit rating.
Source: Pari (05.09.2008)

Moody's has downgraded the outlook on the 'Baa3/Prime-3' long- and short-term foreign currency deposit ratings of DSK Bank, Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria and Piraeus Bank Bulgaria to stable from positive, due to the agency's decision to change the outlook on Bulgaria's Baa3 foreign currency deposit ceiling to stable from positive, the Greek Reporter.gr said today. Moody's has affirmed all other ratings and existing outlooks of the three institutions. DSK Bank is owned by Hungarian banking group OTP. Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria is a subsidiary of Austrian banking group Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich (RZB). Piraeus Bank Bulgaria is a unit of Greece's Piraeus Group.
Source: profit.bg (02.10.2008)

UniCredit Bulbank to distribute FLAG finances UniCredit Bulbank will be the main credit institution to take part in the distribution of finances of FLAG fund. The bank won the competition in contest with DSK Bank and UBB. FLAG fund will help municipalities in developing projects for sponsorship from the Cohesion and structural funds of European Union. The initial capital of the fund is planned at EUR 50 million, of which EUR 15 will be from the state budget, the rest 70% will be in the form of loan.
Source: Pari (22.10.2008)

Financial Supervision Commission reported a boom of insurances covering only death risk. For the first eight months of 2008, 17 life insurers have gathered a total of BGN 12.7 million premium incomes while a year earlier they were BGN 7.7 million. This is BGN 5 million more or a growth by 64.9% year or year. The reason for the jump is the low price of the policy and the fact that it is seldom paid.
Source: Pari (28.10.2008)

Kontrax, the Bulgarian provider of software applications, cable systems and office furniture, has signed a contract with local DSK Bank to collect and export used toner cartridges, the company said during the BAIT Expo running in Sofia. The contract is in line with a joint initiative aimed at protecting the environment and creating a waste-free banking administration. “The bank is our customer and has 365 offices throughout the country. Each year it uses 250 tonnes of printing device cartridges, which makes some 20 trucks packed with waste,” Kontrax president Yordan Yordanov told Dnevnik. Under the contract, Kontrax sends for recycling one truck loaded with used cartridges to a Hungarian partner. Less than 10% of the disposed toners in Bulgaria are collected and refilled by shady companies, and the remainder is thrown out, according to Yordanov. If more contracts follow, Kontrax may spend some EUR 500,000 to build its own toner recycling line, Yordanov said.
Source: Dnevnik (07.11.2008)

Ten banks increased housing loan interest rates in October, showed data of the moitepari.bg site which compares the loan and otherwise programs of different lenders. Mortgage rates jumped by over 12%, the biggest since July when eight banks performed a concerted hike, the website said. Some local-currency rates have sped up by 2 percentage points from 0.5-1.5 points before. Increases were performed by Allianz Bank Bulgaria, DSK Bank, Piraeus Bank Bulgaria, Postbank, UBB, Municipal Bank and ProCredit Bank. On the other hand, the falling six-month Euribor dropped the rate of ProCredit Bank’s euro-denominated loans. Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria, Societe Generale Expressbank and UniCredit Bulbank also raised rates, and EIBank cut them by 2.0 basis points.
Source: Dnevnik (14.11.2008)

Bulgarian Banks Run out of Fresh Capitals According to information from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), the banks in Bulgaria are running out of fresh capitals and this is why they set higher interests on their clients' deposits. At the end of October, the assets of the banking system amounted to BGN 68.6 billion. On monthly basis this means a decrease by 1.1%, but on annual the increase is 28.9%, investor.bg reported. Under the unfavorable conditions on the international financial markets, the banks' capitals and securities are shrinking. The report of the national bank also reads that the non-banking institutions and the households tend to put less money in the banks, influenced by the unstable situation on the international financial markets. In September, the banks attracted capitals in the size of BGN 60.9 billion compared to BGN 60.1 billion in October. At the end of October, the deposits of private clients were the chief source of finances for the banking sector, accounting for 36.3% of the attracted capitals in the banking system. At the end of October, the granted bank loans amounted to BGN 56.4 billion, which is an increase by one percent in a month's time. The housing loans increased by 2.4% up to BGN 8.03 billion and the consumer loans went up by 2% up to BGN 9.11 billion. In October, the banking sector reported profit of BGN 1.22 bln, which is an increase by 26.2% compared to the same period of last year.
Source: Standart (02.12.2008)

Mutual funds assets dropped by another BGN 49.3 million in November to BGN 335.6 million, data of Bulgarian Association of Managing Companies and Pari daily showed. The drop compared to October is 13% and for the eleven months of 2008 the funds under management dipped by 62%. The written off assets for the same period amount to BGN 550 million. Of all 29 managing companies in the ranking, only two were not affected by the negative effects of the financial crisis: Astra Asset Management and Expat Asset Management. The top three companies of the main losers were Elana Fund Management, Raiffeisen Asset Management and DSK Assets Management. In a short-term plan investors will restrain from purchases of shares in the funds due to the increasing interests of bank deposits, Daniel Dimitrov from Real Finance commented, but in a long-term plan now is the time to invest in funds shares.
Source: Pari (10.12.2008)

Mutual funds assets decreased by 64% to BGN 320.29 million in 2008, data of Bulgarian Association of Managing Companies and calculations of Pari daily show. All drops on BSE in 2008 were accompanied by mass asset withdrawal from the collective investment schemes. The only optimistic months were February and May when the funds added respectively BGN 14.7 million and 24.2 million. September and October were the most pessimistic ones.
Source: Pari (30.12.2008)

Despite the crisis, banks in Bulgaria focus on financing of renewable energy sources projects. The newest product in the area was developed by UniCredit Bulbank, which will offer special credit for the construction of photovoltaic electric power plants amounting to 90% of the total expenses. So far, EUR 85 million have been given for such projects under a programme that finances seven banks.
Source: Pari (30.12.2008)