Over the past week, shares on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) have had mixed fortunes, trading being with slim volumes and primarily in the red.

The main indices mirrored the rollercoaster pattern in what analysts interpreted as a sign of investors’ wait-and-see approach and lack of confidence as to which way bourse trading would go.

At 10am on April 1, the Sofix, the index tracking the 19 most highly capitalised shares on the Sofia bourse, was down 3.1 per cent to 1216.07 points, whereas the broader BG40 shed 2.09 per cent to 347.2 points. BG REIT, tracking the performance of real estate investment trusts, was up 0.14 per cent to 97.39 points.

General uncertainty on the local stock market also blighted the IPO plans of Papas Olio, the Yambol-based vegetable oil producer. In a statement, it cited the crisis on the local stock exchange as the reason to freeze listing.

Papas is the fifth company to postpone IPO plans over poor market conditions following farming company BG Agro, agricultural fund Seres, telecoms Max Telecom and Contrax.

Papas Olio’s financial director Tsvetelina Peneva, said that Papas did not rule out that the company might revert to original plans and debut sometime this year, yet saw listing as most probable next year.

The company’s drop-out comes at an early stage of IPO preparations. Papas is yet to decide on a lead manager for the company as well as decide on the planned volume of free float, the percentage of newly issued and existing shares, and the IPO proceeds it would be seeking.

Meanwhile, Vienna Stock Exchange (VSE) launched on March 27 the Bulgarian Traded Index (BTX).

The index tracks the performance of Bulgaria’s seven most liquid and highly capitalised shares, the VSE said. The seven companies in question are holding company Chimimport, First Investment Bank, Corporate Commercial Bank, insurer Eurohold Bulgaria, Industrial Holding Bulgaria, car battery maker Monbat and mining company Kaolin. Their aggregate capitalisation is 593.9 million euro.

BTX will be calculated real time and issued in Bulgarian leva, euro and US dollars.

The companies carry different weight in the overall index drawing on the capitalisation of the company. Chimimport, therefore, was assigned the biggest weight (23 per cent) and Kaolin the smallest (7.3 per cent).

The index is VSE’s 33rd and the 22nd facing national, regional or sectoral trends in Central and Southeastern Europe.