BUX Index Rose on Falling Turnover This Week

The stock index of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) rose this week amid falling turnover, closing at 55,838.55 points on Friday, 0.84% higher than a week earlier.

The weekly turnover of the stock market was HUF 57.78 billion, up from HUF 89.73 billion the previous week, with the leading stocks, with the exception of Richter, gaining strength this week.

In its weekly summary sent to MTI, Equilor Befektetési Plc. indicated that Magyar Telekom's management has become more optimistic. The company has revised upwards its forecast for this year's revenue and EBITDA AL ratio (EBITDA adjusted for depreciation and interest on right of use), expecting growth of 10-15% instead of the previous 5-10%. In recent months Magyar Telekom has seen continued strong demand for its services, especially mobile data and fixed broadband internet.

The commentary highlighted increasing sales reported by its licensing partner Richter. In its first-half report, Mithra, which focuses on the development of women's products, reported an 80% increase in sales of its oral contraceptive Estelle in the US, while the company said that the phase 3 clinical trial results for its postmenopausal product candidate Donesta were also positive. Sales of Estelle accounted for EUR 2.4 million of the company's EUR 7 million turnover. Under an earlier agreement between the two companies, Richter supplies the active ingredient for both gynecological products, so the news is positive for the Hungarian drugmaker.

There were both target price increases and decreases in Mol's shares this week. Wood & Company raised its target price to HUF 3,810 from HUF 3,590, with a Buy recommendation still; while Citi cut its target price on Mol from HUF 3,200 to HUF 2,900, with a Buy recommendation downgraded to Hold.

In the commentary, Equilor also pointed out that, according to Polish press reports, OTP and Erste are also interested in Polish Velobank. Binding offers had to be submitted by the end of September, with the full process expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.

OTP strengthened 3.54% this week, with the stock ending trading at HUF 13,300 on Friday, with a weekly turnover of HUF 37.79 billion.
Magyar Telekom rose 1.31% this week, closing at HUF 540 on Friday, with a weekly turnover of more than HUF 2.36 billion.
The Mol share price rose by 0.29% this week, closing at HUF 2,794 on Friday, with a weekly turnover of HUF 8.01 billion.
Richter's share price fell by 3.10% this week, closing at HUF 8,915 on Friday, with a weekly turnover of HUF 7.26 billion.

The BUMIX index of small and medium-sized shares closed the week at 4,903.13 points, up 50.04 points or 1.03% on the previous week.