Russia’s Mechel shares drop 40% to record low on Moscow Exchange

MOSCOW, Feb 28 (PRIME) -- Shares of Russian metals and mining group Mechel dropped more than 40% to a record low of 31.7 rubles per share as of 11.30 a.m. Moscow time on Friday, according to data from the Moscow Exchange.

Analysts see no obvious reasons behind the drop, but the overall market situation looks uneasy, which urges investors to sell shares of companies with large debts.

“Some investors might have acquired the shares hoping that Mechel would resolve its debt problem, and now they do not believe in it and sell the shares,” investment company Aton analyst Dinnur Galikhanov said.

Mechel’s net debt amounts to about U.S. $9 billion, CFO Stanislav Ploshchenko said Wednesday.

(36.0501 rubles – U.S. $1)

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