Securities board suspends trading in Turboatom shares

Ukraine’s Securities Depository Board suspended trading in Turboatom shares (UX: TATM UK), in connection with a court injunction, board chairman Yuriy Shapoval said yesterday, according to Interfax. In other news, Turboatom announced yesterday that it signed a contract in March with JSC Eurasian Energy Corporation (Kazakhstan) to supply equipment to unit #6 of the TPP Aksu. In particular, Turboatom will replace a K-300-240 turbine with a K-325 model. The total volume of the contract was not disclosed, but Turboatom said EEC prepaid 10% of the bill. Yegor Samusenko: We think this ruling can lead to three to twelve month suspension in trading Turboatom shares. The lawsuit is part of a long-running conflict between current management and minority shareholder Energy Standard. We think Turboatom’s AGM in February, where shareholders voted for a preferential dividend payout to the state (according to the approved schedule, the state received dividends before other minorities), was one of the reasons for this lawsuit. Meanwhile, we estimate the value of the Kazakh contract in the range of USD 15-25 mln, ~12-20% of 2011E annual sales.