Moneta slumps most as GE sells $390mn stake

AFP

Moneta Money Bank AS fell the most in three months after General Electric Co. sold almost a quarter stake in the Czech lender at a discount to the market price.
Traded volume surged to more than 20 times the three-month daily average as the stock tumbled 4.6 percent to 76.60 koruna at end of trading in Prague, valuing the company at 39.1 billion koruna ($1.6 billion). Moneta is still up 13 percent since GE floated 51 percent in an initial public offering in May.
GE has been divesting its holdings in the Czech company, known as GE Money Bank AS before the IPO, as part of a plan to sell most of its banking assets worldwide and focus on its industrial business. Late on Thursday, it placed another 24.5 percent through accelerated book building for 75 koruna per share, compared with the 80.3 koruna closing price that day.
“The news should have negative impact on the stock price in the near future because the shares were issued at a 6.6 percent discount to the current market price,” said Josef Nemy, analyst at Komercni Banka AS in Prague that recommends buying Moneta. “The completion of the sale should boost the liquidity.”
More than 17 million Moneta shares changed hands on Friday, the largest daily turnover since the first day of trading almost five months ago. The Czech company has a 10 percent weighting in the country’s 13-member PX equity index, making it the fourth-largest constituent. Its IPO in May was the country’s largest since 2008.