Total transactions amounted to RON24.5 billion, the equivalent of EUR5 billion, in January-August 2023, higher by 60% compared to the first eight months of 2022.
“What is remarkable about the level recorded so far this year is that only twice so far in the history of the Bucharest Stock Exchange has the total trading value of all types of financial instruments on the Regulated Market exceeded RON20 billion. Thus, a level above this threshold was also recorded at the level of a full year in 2021 (RON20 billion) and in 2022 (RON23.2 billion). The second liquidity indicator, that of the average daily value, recorded a similar percentage advance and reached the level of RON147 million, the equivalent of EUR30 million. The third liquidity indicator, represented by the number of transactions, passed the threshold of 1 million transactions at the end of the first 8 months of this year”, according to stock exchange representatives.
The five most liquid companies listed on BVB according to the total trading value achieved in the first 8 months were Hidroelectrica (H2O), Fondul Proprietatea (FP), Banca Transilvania (TLV), OMV Petrom (SNP), and Romgaz (NGS).
The top five companies in the BET index that had the highest growth rate in the first 8 months include Transport Trade Services (TTS), Aquila (AQ), Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), Sphera Franchise Group (SFG ), and Purcari Wineries (WINE).
Since the beginning of 2023, the capital market in Romania has grown by 17.8% through the lens of the BET-TR index, which also includes dividends. At the end of August, the BET-TR index showed a level of 26,722 points. The BET index, which includes the 20 most liquid companies listed on the BVB Regulated Market, ended the first 8 months at a level of 13,256 points, up 13.7%. In fact, with the exception of BET-FI which had a 2.3% decrease, all other BVB indices ended the first 8 months with a double-digit growth pace.
“The capital market in Romania is going through one of the best periods in history and what we witness now is the result of a combination of factors and the efforts made by BVB and the capital market community in the last 5 years. We believe that these results need to be reinforced, not just celebrated, and that is why it is more important than ever to have predictability and encourage investments in the capital market. We welcome the statements of the Romanian Government whereby several companies in which the state is the majority shareholder will list minority stakes on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, which will make the Romanian state retain control in these companies and benefit from good coverage and additional revenues using the mechanisms offered by the capital market. The Hidroelectrica example can be replicated, obviously keeping the proportions, by other companies in the state portfolio relevant to the Romanian economy”, said Radu Hanga, President of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
“We have received clear signals from the Government that 3 other state-owned companies would list minority stakes on the BVB by 2026, as part of the commitments made through the PNRR, which represents a favorable message for Romanian investors. Thus, we have very good premises for the Romanian economy to be represented even better on the local stock exchange, both at a sectorial level and at the level of the population’s participation in the investment phenomenon. Also regarding the development of the capital market in the near future, our projects developed together with the broad participation of the capital market community continue, and I would like to mention here a very important project in this picture of the development of the market such as the establishment of the Central Counterparty in Romania, and the signals are encouraging. Some of the results of the efforts made so far are already visible and reflected in the evolution of the market, the number of listed companies, or the number of investors compared to what was happening 5 years ago”, said Adrian Tanase, CEO of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
The number of investors in the Romanian capital market continued to grow and reached almost 160,000 investors at the end of the first half of 2023, according to data from the Investor Compensation Fund (FCI). By comparison, in 2019, there were almost 54,000 investors, which represents a 200% increase over the past five years. Moreover, once the threshold of 150,000 investors was exceeded, the Romanian capital market reached a new all-time high.