TPSA shares drop in reaction to government hand-out

Shares in phone operator TPSA fell yesterday on fears of share oversupply after officials said on Tuesday that the government might give TPSA shares to ailing coal and shipbuilding companies. Last year the government gave three state-owned institutions a combined 4.7% stake in TPSA, Eastern Europe's largest stock, prompting periodic drops in the operator's share price on fears the shares would be dumped on the market. At the close of trading yesterday, TPSA shares were down 3.3%, while the blue-chip WIG 20 index was off 1.03%. "This is obviously a reaction to [the government] giving out TPSA shares all over the place. This could arrest any possible growth, as potential share oversupply is holding the market in check," said Artur Zareba, a trader with CA IB Securities. The government owns about 18% of TPSA, whose results are fully consolidated into those of strategic shareholder France Telecom. (Reuters; Puls Biznesu, p. 15) A.Z.