Russian asset prices: In the same week that the Fitch rating agency announced that it was downgrading the prospects of 13 major Russian companies, a leading investment adviser also suggested that some Russian assets were approaching the point where they would be ripe for acquisition. The low valuation of Russian companies has coincided with the “grossly inflated” prices being asked for US stocks and real estates on the the back of quantitative easing, according to Marc Faber, co-author of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report.”Russian assets may move into some kind of a buying range,” Faber told an investor briefing in London. “They can go lower but they’re moving into a buying range.” His view is supported by data from Datastream, which show that shares in the MSCI Russia index trade at an 80%t discount to their U.S. counterparts based on their price-to-earnings ratio, compared with an average discount of 50% since 2003, Datastream data showed. The Moscow Times
In the meantime,international rating agency Fitch Ratings yeaterday (January 13) downgraded 13 major Russian companies from BBB to BBB-, including Gazprom, “Gazprom Neft, Lukoil, Atomenergoprom and Russian Railways(RZD). The ratings of these companies in national and foreign currencies reduced from, the forecast – “negative”. It also changed the outlook for NOVATEK, Polyus Gold International, Rostelecom and Tatneft, from stable to negative. Interfax