BOS share surge slows after investor denies sale rumor

The share price of Bank Ochrony Srodowiska (BOS) rose by as much as 20% yest erday, after a rumor began circulating that one of its major shareholders, t he National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOSiGW) , was planning to sell its entire 44% stake in the bank. The BOS share price shot up to zl.78.5 within a couple of hours of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WS E) opening, amid speculation that the biggest shareholder in the bank, Swedi sh group Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB), was planning to buy the NFOSiG W stake. SEB owns 45.9% of BOS. Then another rumor started, than it was in f act a new German investor who was interested in buying the shares. "It's a c ompletely unbelievable prospect. It would have to be an exceptionally desper ate investor who is so anxious to enter the Polish market in this way," comm ented Jacek Lichota, investment adviser at ING-BSK Asset Management. The spe culation was cut short by the NFOSiGW, which denied that it had any intentio n of selling its stake. Following the announcement, the price of BOS shares started slowly falling, to close just under 15% up, at zl.75.7. (Gazeta Wybo rcza, p. 30) A.K.