In 2023, the total equity turnover recorded a 15% decrease compared to 2022, while if we were to exclude block trades, the equity turnover actually grew, by 19% YoY. Furthermore, 2023 also recorded significant growth for CROBEX and CROBEX10, as they recorded increases of 28% and 34% YoY, respectively.
Zagreb Stock Exchange, ZSE, has recently published a report on the trading activity on the Exchange, for December 2023. As December also marks the end of 2023, we included an overview of how this year’s trading activity compares to 2022.
Starting off with December only, the total equity turnover amounted to EUR 27.6m, representing an increase of 29% YoY, but a decrease of 16% YoY. What’s more, if we were to look at the equity turnover excluding block trades, it amounted to EUR 25.6m, representing an increase of 70% YoY, whilst remaining roughly the same MoM. This would mean that the average daily turnover amounted to EUR 1.35m, which is slightly above the numbers we usually see (between EUR 1.1m and EUR 1.2m).
Monthly equity turnover on ZSE (January 2022 – December 2023, EURm)
Source: ZSE, InterCapital Research
Turning our attention to the yearly data, 2023 recorded a total equity turnover of EUR 320.9m, representing a decrease of 15% compared to 2022. However, 2023 was a year in which there was reduced block trade activity as more trades were done over the normal trading system. As such, excluding block trades, the equity turnover in 2023 was actually 19% higher than it was in 2022. As such, it could be said that even though the overall turnover was lower, more trades were done directly over the Exchange instead of through blocks, which could imply higher liquidity and lower need for block trades, a positive news for ZSE.
Turning our attention to the most traded stocks, Podravka was by far the most traded stock during December, at EUR 5.9m, or 23% of the total equity turnover. Following it there is Adris Grupa (pref.) at 11%, or EUR 2.87m, Valamar Riviera, at EUR 2.3m, or 9%, Ericsson NT, at EUR 1.8m, or 7%, and HT, at EUR 1.37m, or 5%. Combined, the top 5 most traded stocks accounted for 56% of the total equity turnover, while if we looked at the top 10 most traded stocks, the numbers increased to 74% of the total equity turnover.
Croatian blue chips December 2023 performance (MoM, %)
Source: ZSE, InterCapital Research
In terms of the performance of the Croatian blue chips, December marked another month of growth for all of them, with the largest increase recorded by Valamar Riviera at 10%. Following them there is Podravka at 9%, Adris (pref.) at 4%, as well as Atlantic Grupa, Hrvatski Telekom, and Ericsson NT, at 3%, respectively.
Croatian blue chips 2023 performance (YoY, %)
Source: ZSE, InterCapital Research
Meanwhile, during 2023, 9 out of 10 Croatian blue chips recorded growth, with only Ericsson NT recording a 12% decline. Of the top performers, Podravka recorded an increase of 94%, almost doubling its share price this year, followed by HPB at 71%, Končar at 63%, and Span, at 41%. As such, this year could be described as not only a year of recovery but also of growth for the Croatian blue chips, as significant returns could be recorded if one started investing at the beginning of 2023. This was in stark contrast to 2022, during which the ongoing war in Ukraine, the possibility of further geopolitical escalations, as well as the beginning of interest rate hikes across the world, but especially in the US and EU contributed significantly to the negative sentiment.
The turn to the positive sentiment is also reflected in the main indices, as CROBEX recorded a 4.1% increase MoM and 28% YoY, while CROBEX10 recorded a 4.5% increase MoM, and a 34% increase YoY. For reference sake, S&P500 recorded an increase of app. 24% during 2023.
