BET index reaches new historical high, Bucharest Stock Exchange exceeds the level before the 2008 financial crisis

BET, the reference index of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) and the one that reflects the evolution of the most liquid shares listed on BVB, closed March 16, 2021 trading session at the level of 10,844.45 points, thus reaching a new historical maximum. The previous record set by BET at the close of a trading session was on July 24, 2007, before the outbreak of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, which affected all markets.

In the March 16, 2021 trading session, the BET index opened the day at 10,783.89 points, and during the session it fluctuated between a minimum level of 10,753.75 points and an intraday maximum (level reached during a session) of 10,844.45 points. The all-time high intraday was reached by BET on July 25, 2007, when it was even at 10,857.71 points during the day.

Since the beginning of this year, BET is up by 10.59 percent, amplifying to 52.17 percent the grow in the last 12 months.

“It is a moment of joy for the entire capital market community. It is the result of the work of all capital market stakeholders, companies and, especially, investors. A very important factor in this evolution is represented by the important dividends distributed by the companies listed on BVB, if we look that the BET-TR index, which also includes dividends, is already at historic highs of several months. If we look at a period of almost nine years, we see that the BET-TR index had a return in euro of almost 231 percent, being by far the best evolution between the indices of the main markets in the EU and the United Kingdom. The outlook for this year is promising, as we see attractive dividend estimates, some even very good compared to the low interest rates on deposits. At the same time, the inclusion of several Romanian companies in the FTSE Russell indices will continue to put Romania in an optimistic light in front of investors”, said Radu Hanga, Bucharest Stock Exchange Chairman of the Board.

The growing interest of companies in capital market financing is attracting the attention of an increasing number of investors. According to public information, almost 20 companies are preparing to come on the Bucharest Stock Exchange with issues of shares or bonds. At the same time, the almost 40 rounds of bond financing, amounting to over EUR 2.1bn, carried out since 2019, as well as the listing of the 7 new companies on AeRO, with a cumulative capitalization of almost EUR 180mn, contribute to improving the image of the Bucharest Stock Exchange and its role in the development of the Romanian economy.

“This new historical maximum is a confirmation of the fact that we are on the right path in the development of the Romanian capital market. The premises to accelerate the development are created, they only need to be used by market participants. We continue our efforts to improve the liquidity of the entire market, we see intermediaries becoming Market Makers, the number of investors increased significantly last year, by almost 12,000, to 66,000, and at the same time we consider a series of initiatives to boost issuers visibility, such as covering as many companies as possible through analysis reports and promoting ESG standards among listed companies. In addition to these positive developments, the project to establish the Central Counterparty in Romania is very important to create the conditions for maximum efficiency of the local capital market”, said Adrian Tanase, BVB CEO.

Also, one of BVB’s objectives to increase Romania’s representativeness in international indices is becoming more consistent and Romania presents to international investors following the FTSE Russell indices with four companies: Banca Transilvania and Nuclearelectrica in All-Cap, Bittnet and TeraPlast in Micro Cap indices. It is likely that this list will include at least one more company in the 2021 FTSE Russell assessments.

BET (Bucharest Exchange Trading index) was launched on September 19^th, 1997, and is the first index developed by BVB, representing the reference index of the local capital market.