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The total turnover on all market segments of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange (LJSE) in February 2005 amounted to SIT 12.1 billion, which was 27.2% lower than last year’s average. Compared to February 2004, the total turnover decreased by SIT 2.04 billion (-14.4%).
In February 2005, shares of joint-stock companies accounted for 73.4% of overall LJSE turnover (block trades excluded). Shares of investment funds came second, with 15.8% while bonds contributed 10.8%. The total turnover did not change considerably during the past month.
During the 19 trading days in February there were 25,066 transactions concluded. In average, 1,319 trades per day were registered, 4.4% less than last year’s average.
The average daily turnover in February equalled SIT 639 million or 18.6% less than last year’s average (without block trades).
Block trading
The LJSE members reported 95 block transactions in February 2005, a total value of SIT 33.1 billion. The total monthly turnover of registered block trades thus exceeded the BTS system turnover by SIT 20.9 billion. The average value of a single block transaction in February was SIT 348.2 million, while the average value of a single transaction without block trades amounted to SIT 484.3 thousand.
Indices
The SBI 20, the official market index, lost 2.4% in February. It had been gradually decreasing in value throughout the month and ended only eight days in the positive. Within the past twelve months, the SBI 20 grew by 21.5% and thus qualified as the most profitable index of the LJSE.
The IPT Index (Free Market Index) fell by 2.0% in February. Despite the similar monthly level of decrease in value with the SBI 20 and the IPT, the correlation coefficient among the two equalled only 0.13. In the last twelve months, the IPT Index gained 16.4%.
The Investment Funds Index - PIX - lost 2.9% in the second month of 2005. It only ended six days of the month in the positive, but never lost more than 1% of value in a trading day. Within the last twelve months, the PIX Index gained 20.5%.
In February, the Bond Index (BIO) fell by 0.1%. In the last 12 months, the index increased by 4.2%. In February, all four LJSE industrial sector indices decreased in value – with Transport in the lead (-4.0%), followed by Chemicals (-2.8%) and Trade (-2.7%). The Food and Beverages Index did the best, having lost only 0.5% of its value.
Price movements of selected shares
On the official market of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, prices of seven shares (out of the total of twenty-nine) grew in February. Among the shares with over SIT 100 million in turnover, none gained in value. On the other hand, the sharpest decrease in February was recorded with shares of Aerodrom (-7.7%), Intereuropa (-4.5%) and Zito (-4.3%).
Year-on-year, prices of twenty-one shares on the official market increased during that period. Among those more liquid, shares of the following companies gained the most: Merkur (+59.0%), Sava (+57.5%) and Aerodrom (+56.6%). Prices of eight shares decreased; Droga did the worst (-9.5%), and was followed by Kolinska (-4.2%) and Zito (-2.7%).
Foreign investments
The net inflow of all non-residents' investments to the organised market totalled SIT 1.94 billion in February 2005. In comparison with February 2004, such investments increased 4.6 times. In February, foreign investors participated with 7.8% in the turnover structure of the organised market. The level of foreign ownership in shares of Slovene companies (according to the market capitalisation as at the last day of the month) reached 4.0% as at end February. Among the shares with market capitalisation above SIT 10 billion, the foreign ownership increased most notably during the last twelve months in KD Group (+19.1 percentage points), Aktiva Invest (+5.7 percentage points) and Pivovarna Lasko.
Market capitalization
On 28 February 2005, the total market capitalisation of all securities traded on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange amounted to SIT 3,117 billion. The highest participation in the market capitalisation was recorded by the shares of jointstock companies (55.6%), followed by bonds (36.7%) and investment funds (7.7%). In the past month, the Stock Exchange market capitalization increased by SIT 14.3 billion, due to admission of new bonds to the market. Three new bond issues (two government bonds and one by Mercator) helped increase the Stock Exchange market capitalisation by SIT 89.1 billion. Market capitalisation of other types of securities decreased in the past month, especially because of the drop in prices.
Year-on-year the market capitalisation of shares on the official market increased from SIT 1,035 billion to SIT 1,246.9 billion (by 20.5%). In the same period of time, the market capitalisation of shares on the free market grew by 16.3%, from SIT 416.5 billion to SIT 484.4 billion. On 28 February, the market capitalisation of all shares on the LJSE, without the investment funds represented 30.5% of the GDP in 2003 (at current prices). Source: The Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia.
