Rába offers 14% of shares to executives

Rába Nyrt, a Hungarian maker of vehicle parts and military trucks, offered 14% of the company's shares to executives on condition the stock price continues to climb. The shares rose to a 2 1/2-year record. The shares can be purchased by 50 Rába executives between February and July 2007-2009 should the stock price reach Ft 1,000 for 20 consecutive days prior to February 2007, Ft 1,500 before February 2008 and Ft 2,000 before 2009, Rába said in a stock exchange statement yesterday. Rába shares reached a 2 1/2-year high and rose 1.6% to Ft 899 as of 4.20 p.m. in Budapest. The benchmark BUX index, which dropped Rába last April, gained 8.5% in the same period. Rába's market value is Ft 12.1 billion. The company, which supplies customers such as ArvinMeritor Inc., expects rising sales in Europe and former Soviet states to help halt four years of operating losses. CEO István Pintér started restructuring Rába in 2003 by cutting jobs and selling unused assets, which helped narrow its operating loss to Ft 1.9 billion last year from Ft 5.2 billion in 2004. (Bloomberg)