Sunday, January 13, 2008

Hansabank (not) for sale?

As we wrote before, Swedbank (the Swedish bank that owns Hansabank) is having troubles with investors since they've invested a lot in Baltics and the financial world is worried about Baltic economies overheating. The latest reports are that Swedbank's stock has lost 29% in a half year and analysts from Citigroup are recommending Swedbank to sell Hansabank. (The chairman of Estonian Hansapank is denying the possibility of sale.)

This strikes me as a massive overreaction. I've written about the economic bubble in Baltics and I agree that the economic prospects for next few years look a bit precarious. And Hansabanka's profits will certainly be less than expected. But 29% fall in stock price of their parent bank because of that? Stock markets certainly don't look rational to me.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good for people to know.