Bulgarian stock indices continued their downward slide in the five days to September 3, as underwhelming company results weighed on the market, which is yet to recover from the downward trend that is the distinguishing mark of the summer holiday season.

Chimimport, Bulgaria’s largest diversified holdings company, in particular, disappointed with its announcement that first-half consolidated profit rose only by eight per cent to 65.2 million leva. Drug maker Sopharma also contributed to the decline, reporting a 43 per cent year-on-year fall in first-half consolidated net profit to 11.5 million leva as its costs rose faster than revenue.

Downward trends on international markets did not help either, Varchev Finance analyst Stefan Angelov told SeeNews corporate wire on September 3. In the absence of major domestic news, the downward global trend was the main factor that contributed to falling indices on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE). “The uncertainty makes most investors sell their holdings,” Angelov said.

The Sofix index, which includes the 19 most-liquid stocks on the Sofia bourse, shed 3.4 per cent in the five days to September 3, droping below the 1000-points mark to close at 996.09 points, according to BSE data. The broad BG40 index, which tracks the 40 most-liquid companies on the BSE, lost three per cent over the same period ending at 243.11 points on September 3.

The BGTR30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10 per cent have equal weight, posted a decrease of 2.1 per cent in the five days to September 3 to end at 648.79 points.

BG-REIT, the index tracking the performance of real estate investment trusts ended the five days to September 3 0.6 per cent down at 85.96 points.

Bulgarian indices have steadily declined throughout the year, their downward march slowing down for a time in May and then hitting another plateau at the end of July. The Sofix has lost 43.7 per cent so far this year, while BG40 has now dropped 53.1 per cent.