The Monday news sent up Sberbank’s preferred shares 0.8 percent at the MICEX but weighted down common shares 0.33 percent.
Photo: Ildar Azyukov
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Sberbank Splits Shares
Russia’s largest bank Sberbank on Monday has set the split for its stocks at 1:1,000 for common and 1:20 for preferred stocks, which will drive them to the common price of 3 rubles. Those in the market say that the move is likely to make the stocks more liquid and available for all investors. Sberbank hopes to double the number of free float stocks to 4 percent.
Sberbank’s supervisory board on Monday voted to split the bank’s common shares as 1:1,000 and preferred stocks as 1:20. “It will make the use of the bank’s stocks, ownership and sale less complex as both common and preferred shares will have the same nominal prices of 3 rubles,” Sberbank’s CEO Andrey Kazmin told Kommersant. The split will not happen before the bank’s shareholders approve the decision, the whole procedure taking some three months.
Sberbank issued additional shares this spring. Now more than 230,000 individuals and companies own its shares with the Bank of Russia having 60 percent.
Experts lauded the move, saying that the split would attract potential investors, especially individuals. The bank’s growing liquidity will increase the stock’s quotations. After the split, free float shares will double to 4 percent, Sberbank hopes.
The Monday news sent up Sberbank’s preferred shares 0.8 percent at the MICEX but weighted down common shares 0.33 percent.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 22, 2007
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