The total number of certificates issued for stock trading through the COBOS platform stood at 5,600 as at the end of the first quarter of 2008, the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) told Profit.bg.

The number of newly-issued certificates grew by 49 in March 2008 and by 458 in the first three months of the year. The number of certificates issued in the last 12 months rose by 2,936, or 90.7%,.

Investment intermediary Karoll topped the ranking with 1,342 clients as at the end of March 2008. Elana Trading and BenchMark Finance followed with 979 and 972 clients, respectively, registering the largest increase among investment intermediaries in the number of clients compared to the end of 2007.

Ug Market occupied the number four spot with 302 certificates issued as at the end of March, while Eurobank EFG had 167 certificates.

Capman had 166 clients, while Sofia International Securities has issued 164 certificates so far. Populiarna Kasa, Bulbrokers (climbing to the ninth spot after merger with STS Finance) and Zagora Finacorp rounded out the top ten.

The number of investment intermediaries, which have issued more than 100 certificates, stands at 12 with Real Finance and Bora Invest joining the club.

A total of 59 investment intermediaries offered stock trading through the COBOS platform as at the end of March 2008, compared to 49 a year earlier.

RankIntermediaryMarchDecemberChange1Karoll1,3421,275672Elana Trading9798541253BenchMark Finance9728591134Ug Market302249535Eurobank EFG167175-86Capman166154127SIS164152128Populiarna Kasa 9514313499Bulbrokers112115-310Zagora Financorp112111111Real Finance109911812Bora Invest103102113Varchev Finance9088214Somoni 7667915FFBH7466816Status Invest6563217BG Proinvest6463118MKB Unionbank5959019KD Securities5456-220Piraeus Bank4041-1

* Data provided by BSE