Broker owns the most valuable stock portfolio among the brokerages present on the market The Cluj-based SSIF Broker securities firm on Monday reported a 27% fall in its gross income for the first half of the year, compared with the same period of last year.

Broker is the only brokerage company listed on the Stock Exchange. The company in the first six months of this year registered gross income standing at 6.83 million RON (1.92 million euros), compared with gross profit worth 9.3 million RON in the corresponding period of last year.

Income dropped despite the rise in the trading volume on the Stock Exchange against last year, mainly triggered by the downward trend of the main stocks listed on the market.

Broker owns the most valuable stock portfolio among the brokerages present on the market, with the profit derived over the past few years largely coming from the transactions with stock the company conducted for itself.

After a significant leap in January, the main shares listed on the Stock Exchange started to decline in value, with many of them reaching prices last month that were lower than at the end of 2005. Broker registers profits or losses from transactions in its accounting books at the moment of sale.

The accounting value of a Broker share in the middle of this year stood at 1.253 RON, with the value of the company's assets amounting to around 23 million euros, of which 19 million euros were equity capitals. The company's portfolio of listed shares was worth 13.5 million euros.

The only interest of over 10% in a listed company is the 16.5% stake it owns in Mecanica Ceahlau, according to company reports published at the end of May. The company holds a stake of up to 5% in the share capital of 67 companies, and interests of 5% to 33% in another five companies.

Besides its portfolio of shares, the brokerage at t