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The total turnover on all market segments of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange (LJSE) in December 2003 amounted to SIT 42.2 billion, which was at the same time the highest monthly turnover in 2003 in general. The December turnover exceeded the November one by 36.26%, and also the annual monthly average, by 48.96%. In comparison to December 2002, however, the turnover decreased by 31.93%, or by SIT 19.8 billion.
In December 2003, shares accounted for some 47.8% of the overall turnover, while bonds contributed 31.1% and shares of investment funds 21.1%. There were no short term securities transactions concluded. Compared to the average annual turnover structure, in December the participation of shares to the turnover structure was slightly higher while that of bonds was somewhat lower.
In the 20 trading days of December, there were 34,275 transactions concluded, or in average 1,714 trades per day, which was the highest daily average of the year. The 2003 daily average has been a total of 1,373 transactions.
In December, the average daily turnover equaled SIT 2.11 billion, by SIT 561.9 million more than the month before. The average value of a single transaction was SIT 1,232,211 in December.
Block trading
The Stock Exchange members reported 171 block trades in December 2003, a total value of SIT 22.9 billion, or 54.2% of the total monthly turnover - somewhat above the 2003 average of 51.8%. The average value of a single block transaction in December amounted to SIT 134 million, while the average value of a single transaction without the block trades totaled SIT 567 thousand.
Indices
The official market index - SBI 20 - lost 0.28% of its value in December after five consecutive months of continuous growth. Out of the total of twenty trading days, its value increased in thirteen, but the final result has nevertheless been a negative one, particularly due to two rather extensive corrections. On 4 December, the SBI 20 Index rose above the level of 4,000 points for the first time in history but only lasted there for two days. On 5 December, it also reached its historical high at 4,034.53 points. During the last twelve months, the SBI 20 gained 17.71% in its value.
The IPT Index gained 3.03% in December, most of it during the second half of the month. On the final trading day in 2003, it also registered its highest historical value at 3,412.17 points. Within the past 12 months, the IPT acquired 29.48% of its value, and has thus been the most profitable index of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange in that period.
In December, the value of the PIX Index (Investment Funds Index) increased by 3.46%, which made it the most profitable LJSE index in December 2003. Its historical high was recorded on 29 December at 3,374.22 points. Among the shares of investment funds included in the PIX, those of Triglav steber 1 ID (10.72%) and Infond PID (6.9%) gained the most within the past month. The value of the PIX Index rose by 23.53% within the same period.
The Bond Index (BIO) gained 0.14% of its value in December, but did not exceed its historical high from the previous month (at 118.14 points); it ended the trading in 2003 at 117.48 points. Within the past twelve months, the BIO gained 5.69% in total.
In December, the values of three industrial sector indices of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange increased. Oil and Gas which has been the most profitable among the LJSE industrial sector indices in 2003 gained 1.77%. In December, Trade (+1.48%) and Chemicals (+0.79%) were the two runners-up, while the values of Food and Beverages (-0.09%) and Transport Indices (-2.81%) decreased.
Price movements of selected shares
On the official market of the LJSE, prices of fifteen shares (out of a total of thirty-two) increased in December, among them especially those of Nika (+33.10%) which, however, registered low liquidity. Next were shares of Terme 3000 (+12.57%) and Etol (+10.82%). Prices of fifteen shares, however, fell during the past month. Shares of Delo Prodaja (- 8.45%) decreased in value the most, with shares of Delo (-7.24%) and Comet (-6.77%) following.
Year-on-Year the prices of twenty-five shares on the official market increased. The highest growth was recorded by the shares from the transport branch - Luka Koper (+57.10%) and Aerodrom (+50.36%). Also prices of shares of Nika, Petrol and Salus went up by more than a third. Prices of seven shares decreased, among them especially those of Živila (-15.27%) despite the takeover, together with Kompas MTS (-15.08%) and Žito (-10.08%).
Foreign investments
Net inflow of all non-residents' investments (direct and portfolio investments into shares and bonds, but without primary issues) totaled SIT 606.5 million in December; with the inflow on the organised market of SIT 306 million, and SIT 300 million on the off-the- organised market. In December 2003, foreign residents participated with 7.8% in the turnover structure of shares on the organised market, and with 5.9% in the foreign ownership of shares of Slovenian companies (according to the market capitalisation as at the last day of the month). The level of non-residents' ownership increased the most notably during the past twelve months in Medve{ek Pu{nik (+24.2 percentage points) and Svilanit Kamnik (+15.9 percentage points). In contrast, foreign ownership decreased the most in MIP (-12.2 percentage points) and Merkur (-4.9 percentage points).
Market capitalization
On 31 December 2003, the total market capitalisation of all securities traded on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange (together with shares of investment funds - SIT 227.00 billion) amounted to SIT 2,442 billion, and grew by 0.4% during last month. The increase in the total market capitalisation has been due to the increase of the market capitalisation of shares (+2.25%) - particularly because of the growth of prices and admission of new issues of shares from the reorganised PIDs. On the other hand, the market capitalisation of investment funds (-5.93%) following the reorganisation of PIDs decreased as well as that of bonds (-0.57%). Year-on-Year, the market capitalisation of shares on the official market decreased from SIT 1,010.6 billion to SIT 978.1 billion (by SIT 32 billion). Such a decrease was mostly due to the delisting of Lek shares from the official market. Within the same period, the market capitalisation of shares on the free market increased by 62.5% - from SIT 152.7 billion to SIT 361.6 billion. On 31 December 2003, the market capitalisation of all shares traded, without the shares of investment funds (SIT 1,339.7 billion), represented 25.35% of the GDP for 2002 - SIT 5,284 billion (at current prices). Source: The Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia.
