Solidere and bank shares up
as lollar is losing more value

Low trading volume

The shares of Solidere and major banks traded on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) continue to rise with the decrease in the value of lollars stuck in banks.

Solidere’s ‘A’ shares closed trading on Tuesday at 94 lollars, up 12 percent compared with the end of August. Its ‘B’ shares didn’t trade on Tuesday. They ended the day on Monday at 90.3 lollars, up six percent compared with the end of August.

The common shares of BLOM Bank more than doubled to seven lollars on their latest trading day this month (October 9) from 2.9 lollars on their latest trading day in July (July 5).

The common shares of Byblos Bank, jumped 27 percent to 0.8 lollar on October 10 compared to August 14.

“The prices of shares listed on BSE are inversely related to the value of the lollar. They are still trading on the basis of lollars chasing “store of value” (accounts buying shares to preserve value), versus raising lollars mainly to close outstanding loans (accounts selling shares) and to a lesser extent maybe building up positions to gain voting rights when relevant,” said Faysal Barbir, Director of Capital Markets at I&C Bank.

“Even though shares are denominated in lollars, they remain a better investment than keeping your lollars stuck in banks,” Barbir said.

Trading volume is still extremely low compared with pre-crisis levels.