With Increasing Turnover, the BUX Fell Slightly

News of the bank tax increase caused OTP Bank shares to plummet, dragging down the entire BUX with them, resulting in a slight decline in the Budapest Stock Exchange (BÉT) share index, the BUX, despite increasing turnover during the week: nn Friday, the BUX closed at 107,297.46 points, down 0.01%, or 9.20 points, from a week earlier.

Weekly turnover was HUF 118.48 billion, following HUF 93.49 billion the previous week, with leading shares declining except for Mol.

On Monday, indices rose on all global stock exchanges and sentiment was favorable, with the BUX closing up half a% at 107,834.11 points. On Tuesday, however, news of a bank tax increase led to significant selling pressure on OTP, OTP shares fell 2.5% to 32,000 forints, dragging down the BUX, which closed 0.56% lower at 107,229.31 points.

On Wednesday, international investor sentiment was positive again, causing the Hungarian stock index to close at a new high of 108,149.88 points, up 0.86%. On Thursday, the BUX broke another record at 108,213.63 points, although it rose only minimally, by 0.06%, compared to the previous day. On Friday, however, amid gloomy international investor sentiment, the BUX closed the last trading day of the week down 0.85% at 107,297.46 points.

Equilor Investment Ltd. wrote in its weekly summary that target price increases had been announced for OTP. JP Morgan and Autonomous Research also raised their 12-month target prices for the Hungarian bank to HUF 36,500 and HUF 39,504, respectively, the latter being the highest target price for OTP shares to date. Both companies recommend buying OTP shares. Goldman Sachs raised its target price from HUF 33,000 to HUF 35,500, while maintaining its buy recommendation. The consensus 12-month target price for OTP is HUF 33,506.

Richter, on the other hand, saw target price reductions: Jefferies lowered its target price from HUF 13,837 to HUF 13,750, while maintaining its buy recommendation, and Santander Biuro Maklerskie lowered its target price from HUF 12,000 to HUF 11,100, with a neutral recommendation. HSBC also lowered its target price from HUF 11,800 to HUF 11,600, while maintaining its buy recommendation.

The summary noted that Magyar Telekom closed the third quarter in line with expectations. Revenue in the third quarter fell by 1.3% year-on-year to HUF 242.9 billion, which was slightly below preliminary expectations, while net profit rose by 24.3% year-on-year to HUF 55.3 billion, which was 2.5% higher than the average preliminary estimates. EBITDA rose by 12.7% year-on-year to HUF 108.4 billion, exceeding analysts' consensus expectations by 1.4%.

Waberer's also published its third-quarter flash report, with the logistics company's quarterly consolidated revenue at EUR 205.4 million and nine-month revenue at EUR 602.8 million, representing year-on-year growth of 7.8% and 5%, respectively. Consolidated after-tax profit grew by 106% to EUR 11.2 million in the third quarter and reached EUR 32.1 million in the first three quarters of the year, representing an increase of 158.8%.

Among the leading shares this week, Mol's share price rose by 4.32%, closing at HUF 3,046 on Friday, with weekly turnover exceeding HUF 15.84 billion.

OTP's share price fell by 0.92% during the week, closing at HUF 32,170 on Friday, with weekly turnover reaching HUF 76.36 billion.

Richter's share price fell by 1.27% during the week, with the pharmaceutical manufacturer's shares closing at HUF 9,725 on Friday and weekly turnover reaching HUF 11.55 billion.

Magyar Telekom's share price fell by 2.25% during the week, closing at HUF 1,740 on Friday, with weekly turnover reaching HUF 4.47 billion.

The BUMIX index of small and medium-sized shares closed at 10,497.40 points on Friday, up 34.13 points, or 0.33%, from the previous week.