SHARE prices were flat yesterday as early gains, especially among blue chips, were quickly absorbed by investors impatient for profits.
Trimming a firmer open, which saw the market open with gains in the region of 1.10 per cent, the bourse started slipping in the early minutes of trade, dipping to a low of 528.12 but narrowing the gap in the last half hour to a close of 529.40.
The pattern has been repeated for the past few weeks as jittery investors opt out at the first sign of gains, rather than waiting it out for higher yields, said traders.
"Because of the experience in the not-too-distant past, there are investors who prefer to take their profits at the earliest opportunity. Its a phobia created by the correction," said Suphire’s Yiannos Andronikou.
That behaviour was most predominant among individual investors, rather than the institutionals, investing for the long term.
The market tumbled by some 30 per cent between its peak last November and early March, when hundreds of people who got sucked into the euphoria of buying a bourse bubble saw their investments decline dramatically. But in addition to jittery nerves, new listings were being pursued in contrast to existing issues on the market, bourse watchers said.
"Things are slightly tilted in favour of new companies at present… Right now the market is moving horizontally with very few fluctuations and it needs something to trigger an upsurge," said Cisco’s Stavros Agrotis.
Agrotis and Andronikou said they saw Bank of Cyprus’ Greek listing prospects as lifting the market in the short term.
There have been persistent reports and speculation that the Bank has been given priority status in its dual flotation application request from the Greek authorities. Floor traders reckon the initial public offering of 39 million BOC shares will be announced within the next five to six weeks.
Traded values reached £32.2 million yesterday, some two million less than on Friday, and on more than 10,000 deals. That figure is the highest seen in more than four weeks.
PHC Franchised Restaurants, the franchise holders of Pizza Hut in Cyprus, made their debut at £2.50, within analysts’ expectations. The share scaled to a high of £2.80 and closed at £2.52 on a volume of 846,373 shares changing hands.
PHC had floated 17,333,331 ordinary shares with a nominal value of 20 cents each and 3.3 million warrants.
Advancers outpaced laggards 62 to 42 and eleven issues were unchanged on 115 traded.
Meanwhile, the CSE said yesterday that Paphos-based hotel chain Constantinou Bros. Hotels would list 160,714,286 ordinary shares on Monday June 5.
Orphanides Supermarkets said yesterday it had acquired the Vavatsiniotis Supermarket in Limassol for an undisclosed amount.
Vavatsiniotis, established in 1996, has already come under Orphanides’ management. It is Orphanides’ fourth acquisition since going public. It has previously acquired the Omega Supermarkets in Paralimni and the Philips and Antonescu shops in Paphos.
Cosmos Insurance plans to issue shareholders with bonus shares at a ratio of one for every 10 held in July, it said yesterday.
The company said that it would also issue further warrants at a ratio of one for every 10 held on July 17.
In addition to the bonus and warrant issue, shareholders will be called to approve an increase in nominal share capital to 30 million shares from Cosmos’s present 20
million at an extraordinary meeting on June 29.
