SOFIA (Bulgaria), June 9 (SeeNews) – Bulgaria’s financial regulator said it has moved to lift the temporary trading ban imposed on the shares of Greek-owned energy company Energoni on the bourse in Sofia.
The regulator has no further grounds to keep the ban in place and has sent a letter to the bourse operator, Bulgarian Stock Exchange – Sofia, to resume trade in the company's shares, the Financial Supervision Commission said in a statement late on Tuesday.
The trading ban was imposed in April after the financial regulator said it had doubts over the proper valuation of the company’s 547 million lev ($343.8 million/279.7 million euro) patent for a wind farm construction method. The regulator said at the time it was going to request an audit of the patent and of the company's financial reports.
The auditor, consulting firm Ernst&Young, has declined to provide an opinion on the patent valuation.
However, the regulator received on June 1 the company’s audited interim financial results as of May 31 certified by auditor Marko Terziyski, the FSC said.
“All this indicates a discrepancy between the auditors' conclusions about Energoni's financial reports as well as about the patent for invention No. 64239 'Wind Farm Construction Method' valued at 547 million levs,” it added.
In the meantime, neither the Patent Authority nor the Chamber of Independent Appraisers showed readiness to provide an opinion on the accuracy of the patent valuation, it said.
In addition, the regulator has asked Energoni to submit by December 31, 2010 audited quarterly results in order to ensure transparency in regard to the company’s finances among investors.
Energoni said on Tuesday that strategic investors from the European Union and the U.S. have shown interest in the company’s planned record-high capital increase to 1.0 billion levs from 547.5 million levs once its shares resume trading on the stock market.
Sofia-based Energoni (www.energoni.com), set up in 2007, was listed on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange in the summer of 2009. It is focused on developing 300 megawatts (MW) of wind parks and 30 MW of photovoltaic power stations in Bulgaria, according to data from its website.
The company said last month it was ready to build its first solar park near Pernik, 30 kilometres southwest of Bulgaria's capital Sofia, within 90 days provided the financial regulator lifts the temporary trading ban.
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)
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