Crobex indices rose more than three percent last week, up more than 14 percent since the beginning of the year

Crobex indices of the Zagreb Stock Exchange rose by more than 3 percent last week, achieving gains for the seventh consecutive week, thus being up more than 14 percent since the beginning of the year. The Crobex index increased by 3.27 percent last week, reaching 1,937 points, which is its highest level since May 6, 2013, when it closed at 1,947 points.

Crobex10, on the other hand, jumped by 3.02 percent to 1,129 points, the highest level since August 4, 2011, when it closed at 1,146 points. Since the beginning of the year, the Crobex index has gained 14.7 percent, while Crobex10 has increased by 14.2 percent. The regular turnover last week amounted to more than 66 million kuna, which is about 50 million less than the week before. Additionally, 11 million kuna was achieved in block transactions with the privileged issue of Adris (3.7 million), HT shares (3.3 million), Sunčani Hvar (2.6 million), and Hotel Imperial (2.15 million).

– Crobex has been in positive territory for the seventh consecutive week, continuing the trend of strong growth, thus being up more than 14 percent since the beginning of the year. The trend of increased trading volume has also continued – for the third consecutive week, the average regular turnover in shares was above 11 million kuna, emphasizes Tajana Štriga, an analyst in the Economic Research department of Addiko Bank.

As she notes, the average regular daily turnover since the beginning of September amounted to 14.8 million kuna, which is an increase of 75 percent compared to the same month in 2015, and an increase of 6 percent compared to September 2014.

– Average daily trading volumes have not exceeded 7 million kuna in any month since the beginning of the year, so we can state that trading volumes have doubled in September, said Štriga.

She also emphasizes that, despite the introduction of capital gains tax since the beginning of the year, it is evident that investors are willing to invest as soon as new business news is announced.

The highest turnover last week was achieved by HT shares, amounting to 15.8 million kuna, with a price increase of 1.36 percent to 164.7 kuna. Following is the share of Hotel Imperial, with a turnover of 7 million kuna and a price increase of 0.89 percent to 800 kuna. In terms of turnover, Valamar Riviera follows, with a turnover of 6.9 million kuna and a price jump of 9.43 percent to 33.18 kuna.

Valamar and Imperial shares have been in focus for investors since Tuesday, when Valamar announced that it signed a contract in the Center for Restructuring and Sale (CERP) to acquire 50.08 percent of the shares of the Rab hotel company, thus creating an obligation for its complete takeover. Significant turnover was also achieved last week with Podravka shares, exceeding 4 million kuna, with a price increase of 5.83 percent to 381 kuna.

– The Podravka share was also in focus for investors, following this week’s sale of Studenac to the Czech company Kofola as part of the divestment process of Podravka’s locally focused beverage program, and the increased focus on internationally oriented programs, emphasizes Štriga.

The biggest gainers among the more liquid issues last week were the shares of Tehnika, with a price increase of more than 34 percent, followed by Vupik, with 19.7 percent, Viadukt, with 17.9 percent, and Vira, with 10.15 percent.

Among the few shares with a price drop, Medika shares stand out with a loss of 1.87 percent, and Zvijezda, with a loss of 1.17 percent. Štriga does not rule out occasional profit-taking, as Crobex is significantly up since the beginning of the year and is strongly rising.

– However, in general, its solid performance will continue due to economic growth and an excellent tourist season. The risk to such a positive scenario is only the potential slowdown in the growth of Croatia’s main trading partners, which could potentially affect the reduction of exporters’ revenues, concludes Štriga.