27 May 2004 03:55
Bankruptcy threat sends Yukos shares tumbling
The company says it is threatened with bankruptcy because of the
court ban on the sale of any assets, including shares, belonging to
MOSCOW. May 27 (Interfax) - Yukos shares tumbled 4% on the MICEX Thursday, falling to 248 rubles, their level more
than a year ago, from 259 rubles, on news that the company could face bankruptcy before year- end.
Yukos, making it impossible to sell shares to raise liquid funds. Yukos also slumped Wednesday evening after Moscow
Arbitration Court ruled the company should pay 99.4 billion rubles in tax debt.
International stock markets are stable and oil prices high, but
demand for shares remains moderate because of the month-end ruble
The rest of the stock market looked indecisive in the first half of Thursday's trading session and most blue
chip quote fluctuations were sluggish due to a lack of fresh ideas.
As of 2:00 p.m., Moscow time, on the RTS, blue chips were either up or down by 0.2% to 2.3% in average trading.
After the optimism inspired by President Vladimir Putin's annual address to the Federal Assembly on Wednesday,
speculators again faced the dilemma of how shares should move further, traders said.
Yukos was down 3.7% to $9.05 on the RTS as of 2:00 p.m.
"So far the trading range is 620-630 points on the RTS index, but I
think there will be more attempts to push prices up," said Andrei
shortage.
The court ruling on Yukos removed one of the main uncertainties influencing the stock market, said Andrei Rozhkov of
Kapital. "This was one of the main scenarios for the market and investors took it into account in share prices,
including for Yukos. Yukos and the market in general could hear more bad news if default is announced on export loans of
$1 billion and $1.6 billion, allocated to the company by western banks. However, this may not come as a surprise to the
market," he said.
On the RTS, prices were up 1.8% for Unified Energy System, 0.4% for
Lukoil, 0.6% for Mosenergo, 1.6% for Rostelecom, and 0.2% for
Sergei Suverov of Zenit bank says Yukos will be able to avoid bankruptcy because it has sufficient funds to meet the
Tax Ministry lawsuit, unless the government does not make new claims against the company. "However, there will not
be any talk of ambitious investment projects, and development strategy. It is good to point out that what is happening
with Yukos right now will not determine the dynamics of the Russian stock market," he added.
Kuznetsov of Olimpiyskiy bank. "This will be encouraged by a gradual improvement in money liquidity." The
United States is to release new statistics at the end of the week and these may trigger speculation, he said.
In contrast to three-four months ago, investors are taking a more detailed look at events and price dynamics on
international markets in order to somehow justify quote movement on the Russian market, Antanta Capital trader Alexander
Pankov said.
Surgutneftegas. Sibneft shares were unchanged and prices dropped 0.8% for Norilsk Nickel, 1% for Sberbank, and 2.3%
for Tatneft.
The RTS stock index dropped 0.75% to 625.28 points.
The MICEX composite rose 0.81% to 573.8.
Trading volume was at $14.791 million on the RTS (including $11.039 million in direct deals), and 8.248 billion
rubles on the MICEX.
Gazprom shares on the St. Petersburg exchange were up 2% at 57 rubles in volume of over 10.095 million shares.
The S&P/RUX composite ruble index fell 0.25% to 762.91, and the index in dollars was off 0.27% to 156.89.
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