The total equity turnover on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange increased 28% MoM, while SBITOP declined slightly by 1.1% MoM, ending it at 1,215,85 points. Further, on a YTD level, LJSE experienced very strong growth with SBITOP increasing by as much as 18.4%!
The total equity turnover on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange amounted to EUR 30.7m, representing a slight decrease of 7.8% YoY, and a solid 28% MoM increase. This would also mean that the average daily turnover in March amounted to EUR 1.5m. However, we note that the YoY decrease was exclusively due to generally strong trading in this period last year. It was a period of strong geopolitical uncertainty, marked by the war in Ukraine, the start of sanctions, and the rise in the volatility of energy prices. However, we emphasize that ZSE noted a few consequent months of increased liquidity in equity trading this year.
In terms of the indices, Slovenia’s main index, SBITOP, decreased by 1.1% MoM and ended the month at 1,205.54 points. At the same time, SBITOP TR also fell by 1.1% MoM, ending the month at 1.537,19 points.
Monthly equity turnover on LJSE [January 2022 – May 2023]
Source: LJSE, InterCapital Research
In terms of the block trades, only one block transaction was made during the month, this being NLB of EUR 1.1m worth. Looking at equity turnover, the largest turnover was recorded by Krka, with a turnover of EUR 10.5m (or 34.2% of the total equity turnover for the month), followed by NLB, at EUR 8.7m (or 28.4% of the total), Triglav at EUR 2.5m, Cinkarna Celje & Petrol, both at EUR 2.3m worth of equity turnover. In fact, this would mean that the top 5 most traded stocks accounted for 85.8% of the total turnover, while the top 10 would account for as much as 99.8%.
Taking a look at the SBITOP constituents’ performance during the month, we can see that only 3 out of 10 companies recorded growth during May, while only NLB noted a significant decline of 5.9%. The largest increase was recorded by Krka, with a a few of them noting more or less flat development during the month. Luka Koper noted the biggest share price increase amounting to 5.9% MoM. Luka Koper was followed by NLB with 3.9% share price increase and Petrol with 1.3% MoM. Each other SBITOP constituent noted a negative share price development with Cinkarna Celje being the most pronounced with 12.2% MoM decline. However, we emphasize that this month may not be representative of the YTD development for the whole period since the beginning of the year.
Performance of SBITOP constituents (May 2023, MoM, %)
Source: Bloomberg, InterCapital Research
Looking at the YTD level, one can notice a completely different picture. 6 SBITOP constituents, along with the index itself, noted a double-digit growth. The biggest contributor to SBITOP growth on the YTD level was by far Krka with 23.4% YTD growth, combined with the biggest weighting in the index. Further, both Petrol and NLB as a heavyweight noted a strong double-digit growth of 20% and 19.9% YTD, respectively. Combined, this explains SBITOP development in the first 5 months of 2023. Also, Luka Koper, Cinkarna Celje and Sava Re recorded a strong 23%, 13.5% and 13.5% YTD growth, respectively. The only constituent that noted a negative share price development was Equinox with a 3.6% decline.
Finally, we note that looking at the previous months were marked by the dividend payments proposal and approvals. We made a summary for dividend payments in Croatia, Slovenia and Romania and you can read it in more detail here.
Performance of SBITOP constituents (YTD 2023, %)
Source: Bloomberg, InterCapital Research
By the end of April 2023, the total NAV of Croatian mutual funds amounted to EUR 1.98bn, representing a decrease of 14.9% YoY, and 1.7% MoM.
Recently, HANFA published its latest monthly report on the changes recorded by the Croatian capital markets. In this overview, we bring you the latest data for Croatian mutual funds. At the end of April 2023, the NAV of all Croatian mutual funds amounted to EUR 1.98bn, a decrease of 1.7% MoM, and 14.9% YoY. Compared to its pre-COVID-19 maximum, the picture is even more bleak, with the funds losing 36% of their value since then.
Looking at the asset holdings of the funds, on an MoM basis, there were only several increases, with shareholdings growing by 1.7% (or EUR 5.1m), followed by investment funds, which grew by 1.2%, or EUR 2.5m. On the other hand, deposits and cash decreased the most, declining by 23%, or EUR 74.9m, while bond holdings also decreased, declining by 0.5%, or EUR 5.6m.
At the same time, on a YoY basis, the mutual funds recorded decreases across the majority of their categories. The largest decrease was recorded in deposits and cash, which decreased by EUR 233.9m, or 42%, followed by bonds, which decreased by EUR 154.8m, or 11.5%, as well as shares, which decreased by EUR 12m, or 3.8%, and finally, money market holdings, which decreased by EUR 9m, or 19%. The only category to record any kind of a notable increase was the investment funds, which grew by EUR 22.8m, or 12.5%.
Total assets of Croatian mutual funds (2015 – April 2023, EURm)
Source: HANFA, InterCapital Research
In terms of the net contributions to the funds, they increased by EUR 17.8m in April 2023. However, if we were to break this down, the majority of the fund types recorded more redemptions than contributions, with bond funds recording redemptions of EUR 39m, followed by balanced at EUR 4.3m. On the other hand, equity funds recorded a slight EUR 1.1m increase, while the main driver of the overall growth was the Other funds category, which increased by EUR 61.6m.
Meanwhile, securities and deposits amounted to EUR 249.8m in April 2023, a decrease of EUR 3m (or 1.2%) MoM, and EUR 21.9m (or 8.1%) YoY. Of this, domestic securities and deposits decreased by EUR 12.9m (or 10.8%) MoM, and EUR 56.7m (or 34.5%) YoY. On the other hand, foreign securities and deposits increased by EUR 9.9m (or 7.6%) MoM, and EUR 34.7m (or 32.3%) YoY, meaning that the overall decline came from domestic securities and deposits.
Finally, taking a look at the current asset structure of the mutual funds, bonds still hold the vast majority of the assets, at 59.4%, an increase of 1.8 p.p. MoM, and 4.2 p.p. YoY. However, this increase did not come due to the inherent expansion of bond asset holdings, but due to an overall decline in the NAV of the majority of the asset holdings. Following them, we have shares, which accounted for 15.4% of the total, an increase of 0.8 p.p. MoM, and 2.7 p.p. YoY, and deposits and cash, which account for 12.5% of the total, a decrease of 3.2 p.p. MoM, and 8.3 p.p. YoY. Lastly, we have the investment funds, which account for 10.4% of the total, an increase of 0.5 p.p. MoM, and 1.4 p.p. YoY.
Current AUM of Croatian mutual funds (April 2023, % of the total)
Source: HANFA, InterCapital Research