The Colombian benchmark IGBC stock index Thursday gained 1%, driven by shares of state-controlled telephone company Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota SA, or ETB.
The Colombian IGBC stock index ended 1% up, to 11,191.69 points, its highest level since Oct. 8, when it closed at 11,288.30 points.
Shares of ETB rose 19%, to 1,150 Colombian pesos (US$0.58), after an appeals court in Bogota turned down an order from a lower court to suspend the process of partial privatization of the company after the company’s labor union started a lawsuit.
“There is a lot of speculation of the ETB’s shares,” Johanna Castro, a stock analyst with local brokerage Corredores Asociados, said. She added the current price is probably already above the price the company’s new controlling partner may offer.
The city council plans to grant the majority of voting shares to a private operator, while keeping a 51% ownership in the company. The new partner would be picked during an auction that was originally scheduled in October, but was indefinitely postponed.
Preferred shares of Colombia’s largest bank, Bancolombia, fell 2.1%, to 11,200 Colombian pesos (US$4.83).
Shares of state-controlled power company Empresa de Energia de Bogota, or EEB, gained 6.5%, to COP97,980.
The Colombian peso ended almost unchanged, at COP1,967.25 to the dollar, compared with COP1,968.5 on Wednesday.
The yield on the benchmark peso-denominated government bond maturing in 2020 fell to 8.022% from 8.101% on Wednesday. (Dow Jones)
