In February 2023, CROBEX experienced another strong increase of 5.5% MoM, ending the month at 2,227.65 points.
February is another month this year to note a strong recovery of CROBEX, increasing further by 5.5% (after a solid 6.6% in January). The total equity turnover on the exchange, however, is also telling its story. In February 2023, it amounted to a total of EUR 21.7m, which represents a decrease of 51.5% YoY, but also a 30.1% MoM increase. Further, during February only one block transaction was made – this being HT with an amount of EUR 527k. This would mean that during the month, the block turnover accounted for only 2% of the total equity turnover. Finally, this would also imply an average daily turnover of EUR 1.1m.
Turning our attention to the top 10 most traded stocks, in total, they recorded a turnover of EUR 15.2m, accounting for 70% of the equity turnover during the month. The highest turnover was recorded by Span, at EUR 3m, or 14% of the total, followed by Valamar Riviera, at EUR 2.3m, or 10.7% of the total, Zaba, at EUR 1.9m, or 8.7% of the total, and HT at EUR 1.8m of turnover, or 8.2% of the total. This would also mean that the top 5 most traded stocks accounted for 47.3% of the total turnover.
Looking at the largest index on ZSE, CROBEX, we note that it recorded an increase of 5.5% during the month, and ended at 2,227.65 points. We note this is the second month this year already to note a solid performance of CROBEX after a 6.6% return in January. CROBEX10 also experienced a solid increase, growing by 3.4% MoM, and ending at 1,277.13 points.
Performance of CROBEX constituents in February 2023 (MoM, %)
Source: ZSE, InterCapital Research
In the CROBEX10 itself, we can see almost all constituents in the green for the month. The largest increases were recorded by Arena Hospitality Group, which grew by 9.9%, followed by Valamar Riviera, at 8.6%, Atlantska Plovidba, at 6.7%, HT, at 4.1% and Končar, at 4%. Coming back to the CROBEX however, due to the weights that stocks have in the index, the real drivers of the growth are slightly different than the top companies by individual performance.
YTD performance of CROBEX10 constituents (%)
Source: Bloomberg, InterCapital Research
Looking at the same data since the beginning of the year, AD Plastik noted the best relative performance with a 21% share price increase in 2023 so far. This increase came on the back of performance during January. We have already noted this kind of return is uncommon and happened due to an exceptionally low base effect due to a few ongoing negative impacts on AD Plastik’s operations. Further, Podravka, which is the biggest heavy weigher in CROBEX10 with more than 20% in the index itself, also noted a strong double-digit performance amounting to 14.3%. Podravka drove CROBEX’s performance since the start of the year most significantly. Podravka is closely followed by three other constituents: Končar, Arena Hospitality and Adris Group with 12.4%, 12.1% and 11.8% share price increase in 2023 so far. Finally, we note that each of CROBEX10 constituents noted a positive share price development this year, so far.
