By the end of February 2023, BET increased by 1.5% MoM. Looking at the latest data available, BET increased by 3.5% on a YTD basis.
The Bucharest Stock Exchange, published its monthly trading report for February 2023, while also commenting on the general sentiment so far this year. According to the report, the first two months have brought a 5.5% surge for companies listed on the BVB with the listing of the second ETF and one equity listing. In the report, BVB emphasized the achieved yields of the companies in the BET-TR composition. The companies yielded nearly 100% over the past 5 years cumulatively, with superior performance over the US S&P500 index.
CEO of the Stock Exchange notes that investors follow with interest the dividend proposals, while on the other hand waiting for an already known new listing of Hidroelectrica this year. From the liquidity perspective, one can observe investors are in the expectations stage. Beyond this current volatility, it can be seen that the capital market is an effective solution for savings (at least in Romania 😊). After dividends are included, the investor would double their investment if he was to invest 5 years ago. BVB looks at 2023 with confidence with Hidroelectrica acting like a catalyst for investors.
We note that during previous year, new all-time highs were recorded last year in terms of total transaction value, number of transactions and average daily liquidity. The number of investors in the capital market in Romania continued to grow and reached 133k investors.
Performance of BET constituents in February 2023 (MoM, %)
Source: Bloomberg, InterCapital Research
Looking at the BET index and its constituents, on an MoM basis, more than half of companies (13 out of 20) recorded growth. However, 5 companies are within +/-1%, and as such, the changes are minuscule. Of the largest gainers, Transelectrica and Aquila increased by 15.5% and 8.7%, respectively. They are followed by Transgaz at 8.6%, Alro at 5.7%, and Transport Trade Services at 5.6%. On the other hand, Teraplast declined the most, at a 5.7% decline, followed by BRD Group at 3.2%, and Purcari, at a 3.2% share price decline.
Performance of BET constituents in 2022 (YTD, %)
Source: Bloomberg, InterCapital Research
On a YTD basis, taking into the account latest share prices, the largest increase was recorded by the BVB, at 20.7%, followed by Aquila at 15.9%. Transelectrica and OMV closely follow with 14.7% and 14.6% YTD growth, respectively. There are also companies that noted a double-digit growth in 2023, so far, like Transgaz and Alro. Only three companies reported a YTD decline in 2023. Of these, the largest decline was recorded by BRD Group, at 7.7% decline, followed by Purcari and One United Properties with a 4.1% and 0.5% decline, respectively.
Overall, 2022 was a year of all-time highs in terms of transactions, turnover and the number of investors participating in the capital markets. 2023 so far started carefully, but with a solid performance of BET constituents. Further, BVB thinks that the new listing will further drive the market liquidity and visibility.
