Bulgaria’s current account deficit expanded by 47 pct year-on-year to 4.55 bln euro in the seven months to July 2008 from 3.09 bln euro in the year-ago period, central bank data showed.

The current account deficit rose to 13.9 pct of the gross domestic product compared to 10.7 pct for the same period last year driven by a trade deficit growing by 1.4 bln euro to a negative 5.19 bln euro, or 15.8 pct of GDP.

The trade deficit was raised by soaring crude and natural gas bills, according to the central bank.

Under data of the National Statistical Institute, Bulgaria imported 4.423 bln levs worth of mineral fuels and oils by end-May.

Foreign direct investments totaled 2.847 bln euro in July covering 62.5 pct of the deficit against 107.5 pct a year earlier and some 54 pct in the summer.

The news was hailed by experts as the current account gap contracted from 68 pct in the seven months of 2007.

Dessislava Nikolova, macroeconomist at Raiffeisenbank, pointed out FDI bridge a bigger portion of the deficit. She explained foreign investors have only pulled out of the property sector so the revised data will show a 60 to 80 pct coverage.

Economic growth is likely to slow to under 7.0 pct in the second half of the year but it has the potential to speed up to between 5.5 and 6.0 pct over the next three years, Nikolova forecast.

The slowing Eurozone will inevitably have its toll on Bulgaria but, together with Russia, it will be the least affected country in the region, analysts told Dnevnik daily.

(Dnevnik)

It is really hard to say which way the Bulgarian capital market will go after the latest collapse and no specific advice can be given to small players, analysts told Dnevnik daily at the end of one of the toughest sessions for the year.

“If anyone is thinking of speculating over the next sixth months, they had better forget about it,” said Konstantin Abrashev, portfolio manager of BenchMark Asset Management. “The market ridden by strong emotions and is propelled not by fundamental but by sporadic factors. It’s a total chaos.” he added.

Miroslav Marinov, financial head of pension insurer Doverie, also said that the bourse demise does not hinge on fundamental factors. The sharp falls are driven by the US financial fallout and when America and Western Europe send out positive signals, the Bulgarian market should settle as well, he explained. Trade is now mainly driven by forced sell-offs by scared investors, according to Marinov.

The upcoming trade with the new shares of Holding Patishta may pull down the blue chip SOFIX, commented Razvigor Hristov, portfolio manager at KD Investments. He added that some blue chips have plummeted deeper than the index’s total slump.

(Dnevnik)

The Bulgarian Stock Exchange suffered on Tuesday one of the hardest sessions for the year after foreign anxieties dragged the blue chip SOFIX to 885 points, down by 4.9 pct.

The slump is second only to the January crash when the market was overwhelmed by a bearish wave.

The broader BG40 retreated over 6.0 pct to 213.5 points.

The Dnevnik 20 index tracking the biggest and most liquid companies on the BSE slid 5.87 pct closing at 111.38 points.

BGREIT made a much rosier display ending the session 0.02 pct lower at 83.41 points. Real estate investment trusts are now investors’ only safe haven as their stocks sink much slower.

Frantic sell-outs melted another 500 mln levs of the Bulgarian capital market. The market capitalisation decreased to 18.7 bln levs as turnover stood at 5.7 mln levs.

“The slump was a natural reaction to the global crisis,” commented Nikolai Kichukov, broker at Elana Trading.

“The cataclysms in the US and Europe caused foreign investors to withdraw their money from the Bulgarian market. Repo deals also played a part,” he said.

The most liquid companies were hit the hardest. Drug maker Sopharma lost over 10 pct of its market value as more than 76,000 of its shares changed hands.

Industrial conglomerate Chimimport traded nearly 100,000 stocks at 6.05 pct apiece, down 10 pct.

Investors exchanged more than 45,000 shares of mining company Kaolin at a 3.68 pct lower price of 10.5 levs.

(Dnevnik)

Real estate company Willbrook Management International will build a 40 mln euro housing complex in Varna, on the north coast, said the company’s executive director Daiana Voicu.

Willbrook Diamond Residences will comprise 11 home buildings, recreation and entertainment facilities and a spa centre. It should be finished at the end of 2009.

The complex will be designed, built and used by all eco standards and be Bulgaria’s first green project, Voicu said. It will use energy-saving light and air conditioning sources. Water-saving aerators will be mounted in the bathrooms to save water. Local green producers will be picked to supply the construction materials.

A survey of consultancy firm Colliers International showed eco construction is just 2.0 pct costlier than the conventional method. Investors pay an average of $40 more per square metre while their direct financial benefits may exceed initial costs ten times.

Willbrook Management International has earmarked a total of 250 mln euro to develop other projects in the Bulgarian capital, said Voicu without naming particular locations.

(Dnevnik)

GMJ Restaurants International will be Pizza Hut’s new representative for Bulgaria, said Tsvetan Trenchev, co-partner in the newly-founded company.

The chain was formerly represented by Excel Associates, where Trenchev also had a stake.

“We bought our stakes and will develop the chain under a fresh conception with new partners,” said Trenchev declining to reveal any names.

Over the next months the fast-food chain will be revamped into full-service restaurants. GMJ will be the first company to launch the Pizza Delivered Fresh service in Bulgaria. The formula is in place in the US, the UK and other countries. Bulgaria is the first CEE country the service enters.

The delivery menu will offer thinner pizzas and a smaller range but also other items outside the dish list at the restaurants.

Pizza Hut restaurants in the capital will be reduced to three by the year’s end but the company will open six delivery points.

Delivery services will expand in the country at a later stage.

Polish company AmRest also holds rights to develop the Pizza Hut brand in Bulgaria. The company, which stepped on the market last year, also represents Burger King and KFC.

(Dnevnik)