Rosneft held an initial public offering this summer in Moscow and London, the biggest in Russia's corporate history and the world's fifth largest.
Vedomosti said Rosneft shares have grown 25.8% since July over investors' expectations in mid-September that the company could take over most of the assets of the bankrupt Yukos Oil Company [RTS: YUKO], once Russia's largest private oil company. During the first two months, Rosneft shares traded lower than the $7.55 fixed for the placement.
Rosneft stock is now traded on the London Stock Exchange and Russia's bourses, the RTS and MICEX. The company said in mid-September it has no plans to float any additional shares.
Referring to analytical estimates, Rosneft President Sergei Bogdanchikov put the fair share price at $10.5 Thursday, and experts said the market has been anxious since rumors surfaced that the company could buy Surgutneftegaz [RTS: SNGS], a Siberia-based oil and gas company loyal to the Kremlin which is seen as a possible middleman in the purchase of Yukos assets.
But Bogdanchikov and Surgutneftegaz head Vladimir Bogdanov have repeatedly denied the merger rumors, and a Rosneft spokesperson refused to comment on the reasons for the hike of Rosneft shares. Surgutneftegaz shares grew 2.4% Friday, ands the RTS index edged up 0.8%.
A major investment bank trader explained that Rosneft shares had large buyers, and that bids worth several dozen million dollars each were made on the Russian and London stock markets at the end of last week.
Timur Nasardinov, a trader for the investment company Troika Dialog, related the price rise to large purchases on Thursday and Friday with an insufficient supply of Rosneft shares.
Rosneft has few institutional investors, which is why any interest in its shares raises the company's value, UBS investment company analyst Kakha Kiknavelidze said.
Rosneft, which garnered $1.88 billion in US GAAP net profit in the first half of the year, produced 38.1 million metric tons (279 million barrels) of oil in the period.
