BUX Index Up on Rising Turnover This Week

The stock index of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) rose to a record close this week, with the BUX 56 closing at 114.41 points on Friday, up 3.89% on the week to 2,102.35 points, MTI reported Sunday morning along with a brief analysis of the week’s trading.

The weekly turnover on the stock market was HUF 89.22 billion, up from HUF 44.47 the previous week, with leading shares, except for Mol, rising, Richter hitting an annual high at Friday's close and OTP approaching its annual high.

In its weekly summary, Equilor Investment Plc. highlighted "brutal numbers" in OTP's flash report published this week. Adjusted profit after tax hit a record high of HUF 283.9 billion, 46% above analyst consensus. Adjusting items added a total of HUF 98.1 billion to the after-tax result. Operating costs fell slightly compared to the previous quarter, but personnel costs jumped by 11%. This was one of the reasons why the closing price of bank paper on the last trading day of the week rose to a level not seen for a year.

The summary highlighted that Magyar Telekom generated above-consensus revenue and profit in the second quarter, with management raising its expectation for this year's growth in profit after tax to "double-digit growth" from "moderate growth" previously. Inflation-linked tariff adjustments appear to have had a positive impact on revenues, while indirect costs increased at a more moderate pace. Ahead of the report, investors were pulling Magyar Telekom's shares to a decade high, adjusted for dividends paid, Equilor wrote.

On Richter, which rose to an annual high, Equilor said it had signed a new agreement this week. According to its announcement on Tuesday morning, a binding agreement was signed with Mithra Pharmaceuticals for the supply of the active ingredients Estelle and Donesta. Erik Bogsch, chairman of Richter's board of directors, pointed out that this agreement will further expand their collaboration with Mithra, allowing them to leverage their existing steroid chemistry expertise and drug delivery capabilities.

Among the leading stocks, OTP gained the most this week, up 6.1% to close at HUF 14,085, on weekly turnover of more than HUF 60 billion. The price of Mol fell by 2.48% this week, closing at HUF 1.5 billion.

The BUMIX index of small and medium-sized shares closed the week at 4547.92 points, up 520.19 points or 12.92% on the previous week.