(Vienna) After two difficult years, the Vienna Stock Exchange can look back at a good year in 2012. The ATX, the leading index of the Vienna Stock Exchange, rose by 28.32 percent and outperformed almost all major European stock markets. Monthly trading volumes overcame their lows of the summer and currently stand at 2.2 billion. Market capitalization on 19 December 2012 was EUR 79.04 billion (+ 13.32 billion versus 31 Dec. 2011).
The interest of companies in raising funds through the stock market by issuing corporate bonds was very lively this year as well. In total, 27 corporate bonds with a value of EUR 4.4 billion were admitted to listing or included in trading on the Vienna SE. The year 2012 was not an ideal environment for public offerings though. Birgit Kuras, Management Board Member of Wiener Börse AG is more confident about the coming year, however: “The market conditions have improved, volatility indices are signally calmer times, and the confidence of the corporate sector in the capital markets is gradually returning.” Nonetheless, initial public offerings (IPOs) will not come as a matter of course in 2013: “What is first needed is a successful IPO or a major successful capital increase. Then, other candidates will follow the lead and revive the plans they had shelved,” stressed Birgit Kuras.
International investors are showing revived interest in Austrian stocks. The Vienna Stock Exchange organized road shows for listed companies together with Austrian and foreign banks in New York, Zurich, London, Milan and Paris in 2012. “Our two most recent road shows in Zurich and New York were attended by a very large number of investors. Austria is profiting again from its close ties to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), because these markets will be the growth markets of Europe tomorrow as well,” is Michael Buhl’s firm belief. He is Management Board Member of the Vienna Stock Exchange and of the CEE Stock Exchange Group. Analysts are forecasting growth rates for the coming years in the CEE region that will surpass those of Austria, the euro zone and the U.S. 90% of the ATX companies do business in Central and Eastern Europe. “Even in this difficult environment, we succeeded in acquiring new international trading members from Paris, London and Dublin,” added Michael Buhl.
Positive trend expected to continue in the coming year
Should the economy pass the recessionary trough as expected in the first quarter of 2013, the two management board members expect the upswing on the Vienna Stock Exchange to stabilize with a further rise of the ATX, several capital market transactions and rising equity trading volumes. “If the index continues to climb, the interest of institutional and retail investors will also pick up. Trading volumes on the Vienna Stock Exchange should therefore expand with a time lag,” explained Kuras. Liquidity will remain a key issue in the coming year for the management team of the Vienna Stock Exchange. “We will continue and intensify our efforts in the coming year for increasing liquidity such as the acquisition of more trading members and the organization of road shows for international investors,” Buhl assured.
About the Vienna Stock Exchange
The Vienna Stock Exchange is a 100% subsidiary of the CEE Stock Exchange Group (CEESEG) which also includes the stock exchanges of Budapest, Ljubljana and Prague. The CEE Stock Exchange Group is the largest stock exchange group in the region CEESEG simplifies access to markets and trading with the aim to increase liquidity on the local exchanges. The CEESEG stock exchanges cooperate with 12 stock exchanges in Central and Eastern Europe and are recognized throughout the world for this unique expertise.
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