Vostok Nafta appraises Alrosa at $5.5 bln
MOSCOW. May 18 (Interfax) - The investment fund Vostok Nafta increased its appraisal of its investment in the stock of Alrosa , Russia's diamond monopoly, by 40% to $25.22 million at the end of the first quarter, or $5.48 billion for the entire company, the fund's quarterly report says.
Vostok Nafta holds 1,261 Alrosa shares (0.46% of the monopoly's share capital). The fund put that interest's value at $18.16 million at the end of last year.
Alrosa representative Andrei Polyakov described the appraisal as Vostok Nafta's own opinion. The fund does not explain how the valuation was calculated in its report.
Vostok Nafta puts the value of one Alrosa share at $20,000. The most common valuation of a single Alrosa share now is 800,000 rubles ($28,500).
Spontaneous trading in Alrosa stock has developed on the Internet, where the company's shares (par value 13,502 rubles) are offered at fire-sale prices of from 600,000 to 900,000 rubles, with 800,000 rubles being the most common price.
Stock in Alrosa, which was transformed from a closed-stock to an open-stock company last month, is not quoted on the exchange. Investment funds such as Vostok Nafta and KIT Finance , which controls 0.83% of the company's stock, and private investors can buy up shares from Alrosa employees. The company previously had an option program allowing employees, including the rank and file, to buy Alrosa shares.
The company's share may soon appear on the RTS Board, market operators have told Interfax, but quotations on the board cannot be used as a basis for calculating market price or capitalization.
As of today, Alrosa's share capital consists of 272,726 ordinary shares. The company is getting ready for a share-split, during which par value will decrease 96.3%. The additional issue will feature 7,364,965,630 ordinary shares with par value of 0.5 rubles. Earlier-issued shares will be converted into the new shares. The split should be approved by the Alrosa shareholders at a meeting on June 30.