- Equity trading volume up by 5.8% to EUR 16.62 billion in Q1 2017
- Market capitalisation jumps past the EUR 100 billion mark for the first time since August 2008
- All-time high in tradable securities
- Improved order book quality: narrower spreads after specialist tender for the prime market
(Vienna) In the first quarter of 2017 the total trading volume in equities on the Vienna Stock Exchange was EUR 16.62 billion, which is a year-on-year gain of 5% (Q1 2016: EUR 15.7 billion). The average monthly trading volume was approximately EUR 5.54 billion. A ranking of the most dynamic trading days in Q1 2017 shows 17 March in first place with a trading volume of EUR 921.7 million, followed by 25 January 2017 (EUR 393.50 million) and 31 March 2017 (EUR 359.2 million). The domestic stock market remains at a very high level, posting a volume of 2.4 million exchange trades executed in the first quarter.
“The Vienna Stock Exchange is pleased about the good start to the year. The high level of exchange trades shows the interest of market participants from all over the world in Austrian stocks. The solid price gains of listed companies boosted trading volumes and market capitalisation,” explained Christoph Boschan, CEO of the Vienna Stock Exchange. “Our focus will be on increasing the quality of trading so as to be selected as the most liquid trading venue and best place for Austrian stocks to list. Our core business is to offer infrastructure and services at first-class standards, and to ensure the professional, smooth and cost-efficient execution of exchange trades.”
Equities and trading members with the highest trading volumes
Topping of the ranking of the most-actively-traded equities in the first quarter of 2017 was Erste Group Bank AG with a turnover of almost EUR 2.8 billion, ahead of OMV AG with EUR 1.96 billion and Raiffeisen Bank International AG with EUR 1.92 billion. In fourth and fifth place were voestalpine AG (EUR 1.67 billion) and Immofinanz AG (EUR 996.7 million).
In the first three months of the year, the trading member with the highest trading volume was Morgan Stanley & Co with a share of 10.35% in equities trading and structured products of the Vienna Stock Exchange, ahead of Wood & Company Financial Services (9.12%) and Hudson River Trading Europe Ltd (7.78%). In fourth and fifth place came the domestic exchange members Raiffeisen Centrobank AG (6.8%) and Erste Group Bank AG (+ 6.31%).
Market capitalisation and overview of performance
For the first time since August 2008 (EUR 115.87 billion), market capitalisation climbed over the EUR 100 billion mark. As of 31 March 2017, market capitalisation of domestic listed companies was EUR 104.52 billion.
A number of 28 out of 39 prime market companies posted price gains in Q1. The top five performers were Lenzing AG (+ 37.09%), FACC AG (+ 33.48%), AMAG Austria Metall AG (+ 27.82%), Polytec Holding AG (+ 27.68%) and Flughafen Wien AG (+ 26.47%).
Since the start of the year, the leading index, ATX, gained 8.03% (+ 8.31% incl. dividends) and stood at 2,828.79 points on 31 March 2017. (All-year low: 2 January 2017 at 2,654.94 points; all-year high: 16 March 2017 at 2,850.76 points).
Agrana Beteiligungs AG took advantage of the attractive market environment to increase its free float and placed roughly EUR 192 million on the market, of which EUR 142 million were new shares. This transaction significantly lifted the stock’s trading volume. While in January 2017 the average daily trading volume (in EUR) had been EUR 380,000, after the capital increase in March 2017 it went up to EUR 2.4 million.
Improved quality of trading after specialist tender
Trading on the Vienna Stock Exchange is supported by additional liquidity from market makers and specialists. All investors profit from this, because the additional liquidity improves the quality of the order book, raises the level of liquidity and lowers implicit trading costs. The specialist tender for all market participants of the Vienna Stock Exchange completed at the end of March achieved precisely this goal. The spreads (between buy and sell price) of 28 of the 39 prime market stocks narrowed. The narrowest spread is currently that of Immofinanz AG (0.15%) stocks, followed by Erste Group Bank AG (0.33%) and voestalpine AG (0.38%). The spreads for Agrana Beteiligungs AG stocks also improved significantly (2016: 2.94%, 2017: 1.48%).
Six trading participants submitted a total of 118 bids in the tender. The most active liquidity provider is Raiffeisen Centrobank AG. The trading firm injects additional liquidity into all 39 shares in the prime market.
The Vienna Stock Exchange provides professional IT services
The trading infrastructure of the Vienna Stock Exchange was used to almost full capacity in the first quarter of 2017. In March there were almost 14,000 instruments on the quotation list of the Vienna Stock Exchange (number of tradable securities on 17 March 2017: 13,787). This is a new all-time high. Apart from trading operations and data processing for Vienna, the Vienna Stock Exchange offers many additional services for stock exchanges and financial service providers in Central and Eastern Europe.
“We are the number one service provider in this market,” said Ludwig Nießen, COO/CTO of the Vienna Stock Exchange. “Our professional systems, interfaces and services are constantly being developed and updated to be able to smoothly handle rising data volumes. Our latest offering, the OTC Data Reporting Service TTR II, has attracted significant interest. The IT solutions of the Vienna Stock Exchange are designed to satisfy customer needs and also meet the highest standards, as proven by the recently prolonged service contracts.”
The contracts for the operation of the trading systems for the Budapest Stock Exchange and the Ljubljana Stock Exchange were extended until the end of 2021. The Vienna Stock Exchange thus operates the technical infrastructure for five stock exchanges. The price data of over 10 stock exchanges from Central and Eastern Europe are bundled and disseminated through the market datafeed of the Vienna Stock Exchange.
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About the Vienna Stock Exchange
The Vienna Stock Exchange is the only securities exchange in Austria. It features a modern infrastructure and supplies market data and relevant information. It offers Austrian companies maximum visibility, high liquidity and utmost transparency. Investors can rely on the smooth and efficient execution of exchange trades. The Vienna Stock Exchange operates a central market datafeed for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and is well established as an expert for the calculation of indices with a reference to the region. Wiener Börse AG, together with its holding company, CEESEG, cooperates with over ten exchanges in CEE and is globally recognized for this unique know-how.