Blacklists of insurers to be introduced into a common system Blacklists of insurance companies to be introduced into a common system. The so-called IHRA (Insurance History and Risk Assessment) system was developed by the Association for Insurance Security (AIS) and will include the names of people who damaged the economic interests of insurers or who brought bad claims against them, announced Yuri Todorov, President of AIS and lecturer at the Higher School of Insurance and Finance, for Klassa. The system is ready now - the process is currently at a stage of signing contracts with the companies interested to use it. "It will also include sites which have brought bizarre / repetitive claims with damages of great value. Until now, each insuring company has prepqred its own list. The system aims at making all the information available for all insuring enterprises," said Todorov. He explained that IHRA would not include names of proven cheaters or thieves because this information is passed to court but it will include only names of "risky" customers. Assen Hristov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eurohold Bulgaria, also confirmed that they keep a "black list" of persons suspected of fraud attempts. "The list is at least 15 pages and includes 500-600 names," said the manager. "In Lev Ins Insurance company, we also have such a database," told Klassa Stefan Sofiyanski and explained that it included names of customers who had made attempts to obtain undue compensations.
Source: Class (21.02.2011)

The management of financial and industrial group Eurohold Bulgaria will propose to shareholders a change in the company's by-laws, which will provide for an increase in its capital to 400 million leva, according to the invitation for the general shareholders' meeting of the company, which will take place on June 30 2011. Should the stakeholders approve the move, Eurohold will be allowed to boost its capital to that threshold only after a decision by the management, without the need for a general shareholders' assembly. So far, the holding has not announced plans to further hike its capital after the most recent capital increase operation, which was completed less than a month ago. Following the move, Eurohold's share capital reached 110 million leva. Eurohold recorded a non-consolidated profit of about three million leva in the first quarter of 2011, recovering from a 1.66 million leva loss in the same period of the previous year.
Source: Dnevnik (25.05.2011)

Holding companies recover from the crisis with a 134% profit growth The holding companies listed on the Stock Exchange have recovered from the crisis, according to an analysis of Elana Trading Inc, published on the company’s blog. The research is based on companies’ consolidated reports. According to the data released, a sound recovery took place in the financial performance of holding companies. “Revenues grew over 100% in two of them - Stara Planina Hold JSC and Albena Invest JSC" said Tsvetoslav Tsachev from Elana Trading. Most of the other holding enterprises are also developing well. An annual growth rate of 20-30% is an achievement for the companies with large turnovers. But these were the main engine behind the 17.3% increase in the cumulative revenues of companies in the first quarter of the year. Eurohold Bulgaria JSC recorded the largest decrease due to its shrinking revenues from services. The sales of the holding’s manufacturing plants last year did not substantially influence its total revenues. The remaining four holdings with declining revenues recorded a drop in the range of 1% to 4%, which was a consequence of seasonal effects rather than an indicator for continuing deterioration in the results, showed the analysis of Elana. In terms of financial results, the holding groups definitively outperform other companies, which do not consolidate subsidiary results. The holdings recorded a profit growth of 134%, while it was just 4.8% for other companies. Enemona JSC is the only company which had worse results on an annual basis and ended the quarter with a loss. Sopharma JSC recorded a decline, but remained with one of the biggest gains among listed companies. The enterprises which improved their financial results more substantially were basically those that had previously recorded losses. Petrol JSC reported a profit of BGN 23.86 mln, out of which some BGN 17.36 mln was due to transactions with financial instruments, while part of the improvement came from changes in the exchange rates.
Source: Class (10.06.2011)

Bulgarian financial services company Expat Capital has bought a 20 per cent stake in local financial and industrial group Eurohold Bulgaria in a deal carried out on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, the bourse operator said in a statement on June 20 2011. The stake was sold at a price of 26.4 million leva, or 1.215 leva a share, Expat Capital's chief executive and board member Nikolai Vassilev told Dnevnik. The interest was sold by Eurohold's controlling shareholder Starcom Holding and related entities. "The deal was fully funded with own capital in a time extremely favourable for acquisitions on the stock market," Vassilev said. Following the deal, Starcom will retain a stake of 51 per cent in the company.
Source: Dnevnik (21.06.2011)

Expat Capital purchases 20% of Eurohold Expat Capital, a company whose managing partner is the former minister of state administration Nikolay Vassilev, acquired a 20% stake in Eurohold Bulgaria. The transaction was effected on the stock exchange, the holding announced. The sellers are the majority shareholder of Eurohold - Starcom Holding and persons connected with it. Yesterday, a total of 21.8 million shares of the holding were transferred at a price of BGN 1.215/apiece for a total of BGN 26.5 mln. After attracting Expat Capital as a shareholder, Eurohold will have a long-term financial support from all its larger investors, which is an important prerequisite for the overall implementation of its investment programme, said the press release. Expat Capital ragards the deal as a strategic investment and will not withdraw in the next few years. It will cooperate with the other major shareholders in the holding company for making Eurohold one of the ten largest regional corporations in the medium term. According to Expat Capital, the lull on the Bulgarian capital market is coming to an end and now is the right time for serious investments in the best-operating but undervalued companies. Expat Capital manages three mutual funds, two real estate investment trusts and a large number of private investment portfolios, amounting to some BGN 50 mln. Lets us remind our readers that the company wanted to buy a share of Bulgarian-American Credit Bank (BACB) but the fund of Ms Tsvetelina Borislavova finally bought it.
Source: Class (21.06.2011)

Expat Capital, a company whose managing partner is the former minister of state administration Nikolay Vassilev, acquired a 20% stake in Eurohold Bulgaria. The transaction was effected on the stock exchange, the holding announced. The sellers are the majority shareholder of Eurohold - Starcom Holding and persons connected with it. Yesterday, a total of 21.8 million shares of the holding were transferred at a price of BGN 1.215/apiece for a total of BGN 26.5 mln. After attracting Expat Capital as a shareholder, Eurohold will have a long-term financial support from all its larger investors, which is an important prerequisite for the overall implementation of its investment programme, said the press release. Expat Capital ragards the deal as a strategic investment and will not withdraw in the next few years. It will cooperate with the other major shareholders in the holding company for making Eurohold one of the ten largest regional corporations in the medium term. According to Expat Capital, the lull on the Bulgarian capital market is coming to an end and now is the right time for serious investments in the best-operating but undervalued companies. Expat Capital manages three mutual funds, two real estate investment trusts and a large number of private investment portfolios, amounting to some BGN 50 mln. Lets us remind our readers that the company wanted to buy a share of Bulgarian-American Credit Bank (BACB) but the fund of Ms Tsvetelina Borislavova finally bought it.
Source: Standart (21.06.2011)

Bulgaria's Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) said on June 30 2011 it had given the green light to local insurer Euroins to hike its share capital by 12.34 million leva. The capital increase is part of the company's steps to comply with the European Union's new capital requirements under Solvency II, Kiril Boshov, board chairman of Euroins' indirect shareholder Eurohold Bulgaria, said. The directive will stipulate new rules for the money that insurance companies in the EU should have and most of them would translate into a capital increase. The requirements will come into force for Bulgarian insurers at the start of 2013, Boshov said. Euroins Insurance Group, which holds a direct controlling interest in the company, will subscribe for shares equal to its current 77.22 per cent stake as part of the transaction, according to Boshov. The capital hike will be considered successful if at least 50 per cent of the shares are subscribed for. The capital of Euroins will grow to 20.57 million leva if all the issued stock is sold.
Source: Dnevnik (01.07.2011)

Bulgarian car dealer Auto Union Group plans to acquire local peer Daru Car for an undisclosed price, the country’s anti-trust regulator said on Friday. The Commission for Protection of Competition will come up with a decision whether the acquisition would hinder competition on the market, it said in a statement on its website without naming a date. Auto Union Group, part of the portfolio of local blue-chip financial and insurance group Eurohold, said earlier this month it held a 13% market share at the end of July.
Source: Banker (22.08.2011)

Auto Union, the largest seller of new cars in Bulgaria, plans to buy BMW and Mahindra dealer Daru Car, the Competition Protection Commission (CPC), which is reviewing the deal, said on August 19. No financial terms were disclosed. Auto Union, owned by insurance and car dealerships group Eurohold Bulgaria, had a 13 per cent share of the new car sales market in July. The company sells Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Nissan, Opel, Chevrolet, Saab, Maserati, Renault and Dacia cars. Daru Car was the first dealer of new BMW cars in Bulgaria. The company was a dealer of Rover and Land Rover cars between 1994 and 2004 and it became the official representative of Indian car maker Mahindra in March 2008. The firm has a car sales and service centre in Sofia's Drouzhba district. In the two years to 2008, when the Bulgarian new cars market reached unprecedented highs, Daru Car has also been a dealer of Moto Guzzi, Husqvarna and Cagiva motorbikes and Multicar small equipment transporter.
Source: Dnevnik (22.08.2011)

The management board of Bulgaria's financial and industrial group Eurohold Bulgaria approved on September 26 plans to float its stock on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the company said in a statement. The company, which is already listed on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, has already requested regulatory approval to trade on the Warsaw bourse. The company's management has conducted a review of Poland's capital market, the terms for floating on different segments of the market and the benefits the company could get from listing, the statement said. Eurohold has decided to float all its existing 108 643 712 shares included in its registered capital. Three weeks ago, Eurohold said it would reduce the issue price of the new shares to be sold as part of its upcoming capital hike to 1.5 leva apiece from 1.7 leva proposed earlier. The company intends to issue 36.2 million new shares as part of the transaction, seeking to raise 54.3 million leva in fresh capital. The time frame of the capital hike is yet to be disclosed, but the statement for the Warsaw listing suggests that it would be carried out after the floatation in Poland. Originally, Eurohold had planned to carry out the capital increase simultaneously with the listing in Warsaw.
Source: Dnevnik (30.09.2011)