The shares of the main companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) have the lowest price per earnings ratio (PER) estimated for 2008, according to Bloomberg data, which is expecting a 4.8 PER at the level of the BET index, which monitors the top 10 listed companies in terms of liquidity.

PER is the most followed indicator when evaluating shares. It estimates the years required to recover an investment from registered profits, if the entire profit is paid as dividends. A low PER shows shares are cheap and that investments could be recovered in a short amount of time.

The Bloomberg analysis is based on brokerage company estimates related to profits likely to be registered by companies included in the BET index and their current market capitalization.

The 4.8 PER estimated for 2009 is only half the estimated value for this year, of 9.54 percent. It shows, however, that a portion of analysts did not adjust their forecast for Romanian companies, according to representatives of local brokerage companies.

“Many analysts tend to act depending on the market. When things are good, they are very optimistic, then later, in a crisis, it takes a while until data is adjusted,” said the Manager of the Capital Markets Department of ING Bank, Florin Ilie. “I am still expecting new analyses indicating lower expectations, which is to change things for the PER estimates for 2009,” he said.

The local stock exchange has been affected by the international financial turmoil, with a significant decline in quotations and company market capitalization.