Trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) remained slow in the five days to August 27, with shares in Chimimport Holding hogging the spotlight. BSE indices lost more ground compared with the end of the trading session on August 20, recording small fluctuations as summer calm continued to dominate the bourse.

The sole exception was a large deal with Chimimport stock on August 27, which saw 5.22 million shares changing hands and the stock closing 2.1 per cent higher at 8.28 leva, helping BSE indices edge higher on the day.

The deal could be related to Chimimport’s bond issue, Vladislav Panev from asset management company Status Capital told SeeNews corporate wire. The shares might have been bought by the group’s majority owner, Chimimport Invest, in anticipation that some bondholders might decide to convert their bonds into shares, he said. Chimimport placed a 65 million euro seven-year convertible bond issue earlier in August to raise funds for future expansion.

The Sofix index, which includes the 19 most-liquid stocks on the Sofia bourse, fell half a per cent in the five days to August 27 to end at 1020.3 points, according to BSE data. The broad BG40 index, which tracks the 40 most-liquid companies on the BSE, lost 0.4 per cent over the same period ending at 250.69 points on August 27.

The BGTR30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10 per cent have equal weight, posted a decrease of 0.35 per cent in the five days to August 27 to end at 661.12 points.

BG-REIT, the index tracking the performance of real estate investment trusts, ended the five days to August 27 0.3 per cent down at 86.53 points.

The indices have steadily declined throughout the year, their downward march slowing for a time in May and then hitting another plateau at end-July. The Sofix has lost 40.8 per cent so far this year, while BG40 has now dropped 51.3 per cent.