(Ljubljana/Vienna). In the past few years, the Vienna Stock Exchange has developed from a small,
exclusively regionally perceived exchange into a strong, liquid and internationally recognized
financial marketplace. Based on this solid foundation, the goal of the Vienna Stock Exchange
is to activate the Slovenian capital market further by working together with the Ljubljana Stock
Exchange (LJSE). This was confirmed today by Heinrich Schaller, CEO of Wiener Börse AG, at a press
conference in Ljubljana.
A major contribution to the success achieved was – apart from the performance of the listed
companies – the internationalization of the Vienna Stock Exchange: In the past few years, the
exchange worked actively to acquire foreign trading members, and since last year, the exchange has
had more foreign trading members (43) than domestic ones (39) for the first time. Since 2003,
monthly cash market trading volume has risen by 828% and is currently around EUR 15bn, with 70%
being generated by foreign banks. Moreover, the Vienna Stock Exchange is increasingly targeting
foreign investors and has achieved great success in this area: Meanwhile, a major share of
institutional investors come from the US (27.8%), Great Britain (22%) and Germany (10.1%). This has
also made the Austrian capital market more attractive to Austrian companies: Since 2003, more than
EUR 34bn have been raised through new listings and capital increases on the Vienna Stock Exchange.
It is not only the cash market, but also trading in bonds and structured products that has been
developing very well (ETFs and certificates).
The Vienna Stock Exchange impressed by the development of the
Ljubljana Stock Exchange
“The LJSE has grown enormously in the past few years and I believe that the Ljubljana Stock
Exchange and its listed companies still have great potential. We would like to contribute as a
strategic investor by providing our know-how – gained from our own experience – and participate in
the further advancement of the Slovenian capital market,” stressed Mr. Schaller. The Vienna Stock
Exchange is interested in the sustainable development of the Slovenian capital market and not only
in short-term profit maximization.
According to the conditions defined by the current owners, the exchange must retain its
independence and seat in Ljubljana. “It is precisely these criteria – active commitment while
guaranteeing independence – that form the foundation of any cooperative partnership for the Vienna
Stock Exchange. We firmly believe in the regional market principle. The focus of our work is
clearly in working together in the area of products,” said Mr. Schaller. The Vienna Stock Exchange
has long years of experience in cooperating with CEE/SEE exchanges Up to now, the Vienna Stock
Exchange has acquired a stake of 68.58% in the Budapest Stock Exchange jointly with a consortium of
Austrian banks. Furthermore, the Vienna Stock Exchange has succeeded in building up close
cooperation with the Bucharest Stock Exchange in the past two years – without the need for
cross-holdings. Additionally, the Vienna Stock Exchange has a number of cooperation agreements with
the other stock exchanges of the region of Central and Southeast Europe, and contributes its
expertise to the further development of the local financial markets. The focus of collaboration is
in the area of indices and the Vienna Stock Exchange currently calculates 23 country, regional and
sector indices for the CEE and SEE region.
Key figures of the VSE (as of 31 March 2008):
Number of listed stocks | 128 |
Number of listed bonds | 3,202 |
Number of listed certificates | 1,648 |
Number of warrants | 1,677 |
Number of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) | 22 |
Market capitalization of domestic stocks | EUR 137.8bn |
Average monthly trading volume, domestic stocks | EUR 14.7bn |
Share of foreign trading members in monthly trading volume | 69.9% |
Volume invested by international institutional investors in the ATX prime market (as of Dec. 2007) | EUR 25.1bn |
Share of listed ATX companies with activities in CEE/SEE | 80% |