FSC adopted practice on the requirements to the content of the prospectuses for public offering and admission to trading on a regulated market of bond issues

At a meeting on 16.03.2011, FSC adopted Practice on implementation of Art. 92, para 1, Item 3, last proposition, of the Law on Public Offering of Securities (LPOS)  on the requirements to the content of the prospectuses for public offering and admission to trading on a regulated market of bond issues in connection with possible changes in the conditions under which the bonds were issued.
The practice aims at clarifying the scope of the disclosed in the prospectuses information in relation to the possibility for change in the conditions under which the bonds were subscribed, with the purpose of protecting the interests of investors in bonds, including through enhancement of their knowledge, and as consequence, improvement of the transparency, stability and trust in the capital market.

Decisions from a meeting of FSC on 23 March, 2011

At its meeting held on 23 March, 2011, FSC took the following decisions:

1. Entered an issue of shares, issued by Mekom AD, town of Silistra, issued as a result of increase in the capital of the company. The issue is at the amount of BGN 284 775, divided in  284 775 obligatorily convertible preference shares without right to vote, with 18% guaranteed dividend, having a par value of BGN 1 each.

2. Approved a prospectus for public offering of shares of Intercapital Property Development REIT, city of Sofia, at the amount of BGN 9 017 214, divided into 9 017 214 common shares with a par value of BGN 1 each and issue value of BGN 2.30 each. Entered the issue of shares (in process of issuing) in the FSC Register.

3. Halifax Consultancy EOOD, city of Burgas, notified FSC of its intention to carry out activity as an insurance broker. The company intends to pursue business under the freedom to provide services on the territory of Ireland and the United Kingdom. FSC will inform the relevant competent authorities of the host Member States about the intention of the insurance broker to pursue business on their territory.

Decisions from FSC’s meeting held on 27 April, 2011

At its meeting on 27 April 2011, FSC took the following decisions:

1. Approved a prospectus for initial public offering of an issue of shares, which will be issued as result of increase in the capital of Bulstrad Vienna Insurance Group Plc, city of Sofia. The issue is to the amount of 613 647 common shares with right to vote, with right to dividend and liquidation quota, proportionate to the par value of the share, with a par value to the amount of BGN 10 each and issue value of BGN 49. Entered in the public register the above stated issue / in process of issuing/.

2. Entered an issue of shares with the purpose of trading on a regulated securities market, issued as a result of increase in the capital of Investor BG AD, city of Sofia, from BGN  1 199 460 to BGN 1 438 695. The issue is at the amount of BGN 239 235, divided into 239 235 common, freely negotiable shares with right to vote, with a par value of BGN 1 each. 

3. Entered an issue of shares with the purpose of trading on a regulated securities market, issued as a result of increase in the capital of Industrial Holding Bulgaria AD, city of Sofia, from BGN 58 282 079 to BGN 67 978 543. The issue is at the amount of BGN 9 696 464, divided into 9 696 464 common shares with right to vote, with a par value of BGN 1 each. 

4. G P A Group JSC, city of Sofia, notified FSC of its intention to carry out activity as insurance broker on the territory of Romania under freedom to provide services within the EU. FSC will inform the relevant competent authority of the host Member State about the intention of the insurance broker.

Decisions from FSC’s meeting held on 20 April, 2011

At its meeting on 20 April  2011, FSC took the following decisions:

1. Approved a prospectus for initial public offering of an issue of corporate bonds, which will be issued by Sofia Hotel Balkan AD, city of Sofia. The issue is at the amount of Euro 10 000 000, divided into 100 000 common bonds with a par value of Euro 100 each, 10% annual interest, with interest payments every 12 months, the principal being paid in one lump sum on the maturity date, and the term of the bond loan is 10 years, considered from the date of the bond loan conclusion.  Entered in the public register the above issue / in process of issuing/.

2. Approved a prospectus for initial public offering of an issue of shares, which will be issued as a result of increase in the capital of Sofia Hotel Balkan AD, city of Sofia.  The issue is to the amount of 4 785 360 common shares entitling to one vote, right to dividend and liquidation quota, proportionate to the par value of the share, with a par value BGN 1 each and issue value of BGN 3.60 each. Entered in the public register the above issue / in process of issuing/.

3. Entered an issue of shares with the purpose of trading on a regulated market, issued as a result of increase in the capital of Asenova Krepost AD, town of Asenovgrad, from BGN  1 232 568 to BGN 3 632 568. The issue is to the amount of BGN 2 400 000, divided into 800 000 common shares with right to vote, with a par value of BGN 3 each.

4. Entered in the register Debitum Invest SPV, city of Sofia, as a public company.

Entered an issue of shares with the purpose of trading on a regulated market, issued by Debitum Invest SPV, city of Sofia, representing the registered capital of the company. The issue is at the amount of BGN 650 000, divided into 650 000 common shares with right to vote, with a par value BGN 1 each.

The minimum rate of return was determined of the compulsory pension funds for the period from 31.03.2009 to 31.03.2011

The minimum rate of return on a year-on-year basis for the preceding 24-month period from 31.03.2009 to 31.03.2011 was   
4,79 percent from the management of the assets of the universal pension funds (UPF). Regarding the occupational pension funds (OPF), a minimum rate of return on an annual basis of 4,90 percent was determined for the same period. The weighted average rate of return of UPFs for the same period, calculated on an annual basis, was 7,98 per cent, and for OPF, respectively, it was 8,16 percent. All compulsory supplementary pension insurance funds reached a rate of return whose amount exceeded the set minimum level of rate of return for the relevant type of fund.

For the above indicated 24-month period, UPF Badeshte achieved a rate of return, which was higher than the announced upper limit of the rate of return of the universal funds and it should put aside a reserve within the statutorily set term.

Final results of the activity in the field of supplementary pension insurance for 2010

Social Insurance Supervision Division of FSC announced the final results of the activity in supplementary pension insurance for 2010. The information was obtained on the basis of the audited financial statements and statistics, submitted by the pension insurance companies at the Financial Supervision Commission.

As of 31 December 2010, the number of the insured persons in the four types of pension funds – universal, occupational, voluntary and voluntary under professional schemes, reached 3 882 883 persons, which represented an increase with 117 925 persons or by  3,13 percent compared to the insured in the end of 2009.

At 30 December 2010, the accumulated net assets in the system of supplementary pension insurance equaled to BGN 3 987 419 thousand and registered a growth of BGN 831 249 thousand, or 26,34 per cent in comparison with the net assets as of 31.12.2009.

The pension insurance companies closed the reporting 2010 year with total income to the amount of BGN 86 667 thousand, which represented an increase by 9,55 percent, compared to the recorded income in 2009. In 2010, the pension insurance sector realized a positive total net financial result to the amount of BGN 19 722 thousand, which represented a surge of this indicator by 18,83 in comparison with 2009.

2010 data on the insurance market

The presented individual data from the insurer’s reports for 2010 are summarized and published on the FSC’s web page – www.fsc.bg, in section E-library, Statistics, Insurance Market. In the same section, there are also data published for reinsurance company G P Reinsurance EAD.

In 2010, the gross premium income realized by insures, having a legal seat in the Republic of Bulgaria, amounted to BGN 1 630 550 thousand, where a decline of 3,0 % on a year-on-year basis was observed. The gross premium income, realized by the general insurance companies at the end of 2010, amounted to BGN 1 384 741 thousand, whereby a decrease of 5,1 % on a year-on-year basis was realized.

The gross premium income, realized by life insuring companies at the end of 2010, amounted to BGN 245 809 thousand, recording a growth of 10,5 % on an annual basis.

The occurred claims in general insurance were to the amount of BGN 749 410 thousand, declining by 1,6 % y/y.

The paid claims by life insurers were to the amount of BGN 98 633 thousand, recording a growth of 8,2 % year-on-year.

At the end of 2010, the sum of the insurers’ assets climbed by 4,9 % on an annual basis and amounted to BGN 2 922 704 thousand, including 63,8 % of the general insurance companies and 36,2 % of the life insurance companies.

In the end of 2010, the amount of the general insurance companies’ investments came to BGN 1 200 687 thousand and surged by 9,0 % year-on-year. The amount of the life insurance companies came to BGN 914 511 thousand and increased by 8,3 % year-on-year.

The assets amount of reinsurer G P Reinsurance EAD was BGN 1 609 914 thousand in the end of 2010, towards BGN 1 083 988 thousand in the end of 2009. 

The amount of the reinsurer’s investments in the end of 2010 was BGN 1 243 053 thousand, compared to BGN 975 583 thousand a year earlier.

The total amount of the insurers’ equity grew by 1,1 % on an annual basis and reached BGN 977 369 thousand, including BGN 526 261 thousand of the insurers pursing business of general insurance, and BGN 451 108 thousand of the life insurance companies.

The amount of the gross technical provisions, set aside by the general insurance companies increased by 8,1 % year-on-year and reached BGN 1 375 820 thousand.

The amount of the gross technical provisions, set aside by life insurance companies went up by 13,8 % year-on-year and reached BGN 574 750 thousand.

The companies in the general insurance sector reported a negative technical result of BGN (-43 279) thousand in 2010, compared to BGN (-7 736) thousand in 2009, respectively a negative financial result of BGN (-16 385) thousand in 2010, compared to BGN 26 689 thousand in 2009.

The reported by life insurance companies technical result of year 2010 was                 BGN 14 758 thousand, compared to BGN 11 921 thousand in 2009, and the financial result was BGN 22 702 thousand, compared to BGN 23 942 thousand in 2009.

Achieved investment results in the management of the supplementary pension funds for the period 2006 – 2010

By 31st of March every year, the pension insurance companies must announce the achieved investment results (rate of return and investment risk) of the managed by them pension funds. The content and form of this information is specified in the Requirements to the advertising and written information materials of the pension funds and of the pension insurance companies. According to Item 23 of the above stated document, the information of the achieved investment results of the pension funds covers:

  • the nominal rate of return, as a percent, from the management of the pension fund’s assets for each calendar year from the preceding five-year period;
  • the average nominal rate of return, as a percent, from the management of the pension fund’s assets for the preceding five-year period, calculated as geometric mean of the rate of returns for each ear of the period;
  • the level of investment risk in the management of the pension fund’s assets for each calendar year from the preceding five-year period, measured by the indicator standard deviation of the rate of return;
  • Sharp coefficient, in case that the achieved nominal rate of return is higher than the risk-free rate of return for the relevant year;
  • a graph about the value per one unit as at the last business day of each month for the preceding five-year period.

In relation to Item 23 of the Requirements to the advertising and written information materials of the pension funds and of the pension insurance companies and in consistence with the adopted practice for enhancement of the insured persons’ knowledge, Social Insurance Supervision Division of the Financial Supervision Commission announces the investment results, achieved for the period 2006 – 2010, in the management of all supplementary pension insurance funds.

The pension insurance companies announced information on the investments in securities by issuers

As of 31 March 2011, all pension insurance companies announced on their web sites information about the volume and structure of the investments by types of assets and securities issuers for each managed supplementary pension insurance fund. The information is disclosed in accordance with Art. 180 of the Social Insurance Code and the Requirements to the advertising and written information materials of the pension funds and of the pension insurance companies under Art. 123i, para 2 and Art. 180, para 2, Item 1 and Item  2 of the Social Insurance Code.

At 31.12.2010, the investments of all pension funds in debt instruments (bonds) were in overall 11 types of debt securities and 228 different issues, evaluated at the market value of BGN 1 761 111 030. The bonds occupied a share of 45.04% of the balance sheet assets of the universal pension funds, 41.27% of the balance sheet assets of the occupational pension funds, 41.59% of the balance sheet assets of the voluntary pension funds and 47.02% of the balance sheet assets of the voluntary pension funds under occupational schemes.

As of 31 December 2010, the investments of all pension funds in shares and other equity instruments were in overall 9 types of equity securities and 344 different issues evaluated at market value of BGN 1 055 964 344. The equity financial instruments account for 25.20%  share of the balance sheet assets of the universal pension funds, 28.23% of the balance sheet assets of the occupational pension funds, 31.20% of the balance sheet assets of the voluntary pension funds and 4.25% of the balance sheet assets of the voluntary pension funds under occupational schemes.

The data on the investments in 228 issues of debt and 344 issues of equity financial instruments at the end of 2010, in comparison with 184 issues of debt and 235 issues of equity financial instruments at the end of 2009, were indicative of the running of diversification processes in the pension funds through investments in a bigger number of issues, which if  appropriately combined had to result in reduction of the risk to the individual issuers and more optimal investment of the funds as rate of return-risk ratio.