Fondul Proprietatea (FP) shares reached an all-time high on May 30 at RON 1.05, up 15 percent over the value of RON 0.883 reached at the end of last year and 138 percent more than the closing price from the end of 2011, the year when the Fund was listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), according to a press release by the investment manager of Franklin Templeton Investment Management.
“The price of RON 1.00 is the nominal value set by the Romanian State for the compensation of the Romanian citizens who could not be compensated in kind with the property lost during the communist regime, before the listing on the BVB. We are extremely pleased to see that all these years of work and dedication to create the value of our shareholders are reflected in the market price of the Fund’s shares. Also since September 2010, when Franklin Templeton began its current mandate, we have distributed RON 1.1696 per share through dividend and capital return, including dividends to be paid in early July,” said Johan Meyer, CEO of Franklin Templeton Investments Limited and Portfolio Manager of Fondul Proprietatea.
He also noted that that the company’s strategy for managing the Fund has been successful over time and will continue to pursue the interest of FP shareholders, whether they have been from the start or have entered more recently, “without exerting any effort to support the implementation of corporate governance in Romania, advocating listing state-owned companies and implementing company-level shares to reduce the discount on net asset value (VAN).”
The share price has steadily ascended since the takeover of the management of the Fondul Proprietatea, with a total return of more than 165 percent since the listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in January 2011.
Over the past eight years, the Fund has distributed a total of RON 11.95 billion (USD 3.27 billio) to its shareholders.Read more aboutThe largest private placement of corporate bonds on the AeRO market: TEILOR Holding raises RON 45 million from BVB investors. Filip & Company provides legal assistance read more
“As a result, the Fund distributes RON 1.1696 per share, equivalent to about RON 6.32 billion, in the form of dividends and capital returns, and the Fund has redeemed more than 45.7 percent of its initial shares, the equivalent of RON 6.29 billion shares through 10 regular redemption programs, as well as 5 offers, worth a total of RON 5.63 billion RON,” shows the press release.
Launched in December 2005, Fondul Proprietatea (‘the Fund’) was created to compensate Romanian citizens whose property was confiscated by the former communist regime. Following the international tender announced in December 2008, Franklin Templeton Investments officially took over the role of investment manager and sole administrator of the Fund on September 29, 2010. The fund is a closed-end investment company and its investment objective is maximizing returns to shareholders and increase in net asset value per share by investments mainly made in Romanian equities and securities.
The Fund is traded on the Bucharest Stock Exchange on January 25, 2011 and was listed on the Specialist Fund Market London Stock Exchange through deposit certificates (“GDRs”) on 29 April 2015.
Franklin Templeton Investments provides global and local investment management solutions for retail, institutional and sovereign clients in more than 180 countries. The California-based company has more than 65 years of investment experience and manages assets worth over USD 720 billion, according to data available on April 30, 2019. Franklin Templeton established an office in Bucharest in May 2010 with a team of 30 employees, including 6 local investment specialists supported by over 40 portfolio managers and analysts from the expanded Templeton Emerging Markets team.
