In October 2023, the total equity turnover on the LJSE increased by 20% MoM, and declined 14.2% YoY. During the same period, the SBITOP recorded a slight 0.8% decrease MoM, ending at 1,165.00 points. On a YTD basis, SBITOP increased by 13.2%.
Yesterday, the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, LJSE, published its latest monthly trading activity report, for the month of October 2023. According to the report, the total equity turnover on LJSE amounted to EUR 22.2m, representing an increase of 20% MoM, and a 14.2% YoY decline. In terms of the average daily turnover, it amounted to EUR 1m during the month. Moving on, SBITOP recorded a slight decrease of 0.8% MoM and ended at 1,165.00 points. Meanwhile, SBITOP TR ended the month at 1,555.65 points, with the same 0.8% MoM decrease.
Monthly equity turnover on LJSE (January 2022 – October 2023, EURm)
Source: LJSE, InterCapital Research
In terms of the most traded stocks, leading the way is Krka with a turnover of EUR 7.6m, representing 34.3% of the total equity turnover. Next up, there is NLB at 4.5m, or 20.2% of the total, Telekom Slovenije at EUR 2.3m, or 10.1%, and Luka Koper, at EUR 2.2m, or 10.1%. Finally, there is Sava Re, at EUR 1.5m (or 6.8% of the total). This would also mean that the top 5 most traded stocks accounted for 81.5% of the total equity turnover, while the top 10 stocks accounted for 95.6% of the total, which is in line with historical shares of total equity turnover in Slovenia.
Moving on to the performance of the SBITOP constituents during October, 4 out of 9 companies recorded an increase, while the remaining 5 recorded negative returns. The biggest gain was recorded by Telekom Slovenije with a double-digit increase of 12.4%, followed by Cinkarna Celje at 5.8%, Petrol at 1.7%, and NLB, at 1.1%. On the other hand, the largest decrease was recorded by Sava Re at 4.7%, followed by Krka at 4.1%, and Triglav with 3% decline. We note that Slovenian insurers were under selling pressure as Triglav and Sava Re, both cut their FY 2023 profit target due to unprecedently high CAT claims, which will be seen in Q3 published by this month-end.
Performance of SBITOP constituents (October 2023, MoM, %)
Source: Bloomberg, InterCapital Research
Meanwhile, on a YTD basis ending in October 2023, the gains recorded are a lot more positive with overall SBITOP’s double-digit return amounting to 13.2%. Out of the observed companies, 7 recorded increases, while only 2 recorded negative returns. The largest increase was recorded by NLB, at 21.8% YTD, boosted by the latest trading days on the back of solid Q3 results published recently. NLB is followed by Luka Koper at 21.4%, Telekom Slovenije at 19.6%, and Petrol at 18% also on the back of good Q3 results that showed stabilization and growth in Petrol’s operating margins. On the flipside, Equinox declined by 2%, while Triglav noted the biggest decline of 14.8%.
Performance of SBITOP constituents (2023 YTD ending in October 2023, %)
Source: Bloomberg, InterCapital Research
Overall, 2023 thus far has proved to be quite good for Slovenian equity. Recently, there has been a decline in trading and even a decline across several stocks. This came as a result of firstly the flooding and natural disasters in Slovenia, but also news such as the total assets banking tax for Slovenian banks. As such, after the initial negative momentum, trading has been somewhat subdued, especially compared to what the average trading would be.
