The Beginning of 2026 Brought the Highest Turnover on the Zagreb Stock Exchange in 15 Years

The disruption in the global economy caused by the American-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 shook global stock markets, and the Croatian capital market is no exception, recording the largest liquidity jump in the last 15 years. Investor concerns on the domestic stock exchange are reflected in the 5.6 percent drop in the CROBEX index, but the significant increase in turnover is far more noteworthy.

According to recently published reports from the Zagreb Stock Exchange, total turnover in March alone reached 103.2 million euros, raising quarterly turnover to 271 million euros. In other words, March alone accounted for nearly 40 percent of quarterly turnover.

Compared to the previous quarter, turnover is up 15 percent, but it has jumped 57 percent year-on-year. This is also the best start to the year for the domestic stock exchange in terms of liquidity since 2011, which is remembered in stock market statistics for 335.2 million euros traded in the first three months. The impact of the attack on Iran on liquidity is also evident when comparing it to three major shocks that have shaken the domestic financial market in the last nine years: the collapse of Agrokor in 2017, the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, and the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022.

Along with Turnover, Volume Increased

At the beginning of 2017, turnover surged above 189 million euros, while in the first three months of 2020, it was approximately similar at 184 million euros. Compared to these two events, the invasion of Ukraine caused the least concern among investors – in the first quarter of 2022, turnover reached 133.7 million euros.

As for this year, in the first three months, equity turnover amounted to 174.7 million euros, which is 11 percent higher than in the previous quarter. However, compared to the previous year, trading in shares is up 61 percent. The extent to which global events have brought vitality to the domestic stock exchange is confirmed by data on volume and the number of transactions. Approximately 5.9 million shares changed hands, which is 16 percent more. However, these shares were traded in nearly 40 thousand transactions, which is 53 percent more.

A significant contribution to the liquidity jump also came from investment funds whose shares are traded on the stock exchange (ETFs). In the first three months, these securities were traded for 20.6 million euros, 76 percent more than in the last three months of the previous year. Such a result is not surprising given that these are securities that mostly track stock market indices, such as the Croatian, Slovenian, and Romanian equity benchmarks. A look back to the previous year reveals that turnover in ETFs is up 41.6 percent.

There Is No Significant Damage to the Indices

Although March brought a noticeable weakening of the equity index, the damage from Trump’s military adventure in the Middle East during the first three months is actually quite small. Since the beginning of the year, CROBEX is down 1.6 percent, while the narrower CROBEX10 records a slightly larger drop of two percent. The total market capitalization of 55 billion euros has decreased by 0.1 percent compared to the previous quarter. Moreover, those who invested in Croatian stocks a year ago are still in a nice profit; almost all indices have grown by double digits, with CROBEX increasing by 15 percent and CROBEX10 by more than 16 percent.

This quarter has not brought changes to the trend that has been ongoing for several years in the domestic market, which is the concentration of turnover in a small number of issues. With the components of CROBEX, a turnover of 152 million euros was achieved, accounting for 87 percent of total equity turnover. Of the turnover in CROBEX, 37 percent relates to trading in shares of Končar, with 55.6 million euros, making it the most liquid domestic issue by far. The trio of the most liquid also includes Dalekovod with 13 million euros and AD Plastik with 12 million euros.

The increase in liquidity is certainly welcomed by domestic brokerage firms, among which Interkapital Securities and Privredna Banka Zagreb continue to dominate. Interkapital has further solidified its leading position with a total turnover of 167.9 million euros (75.5 percent more). Specifically, it has increased its share from 27.7 percent a year ago to the current 30.5 percent. PBZ, with a total turnover of 79 million euros, which is twice as high, has seen its market share slightly decrease from 15 to 14.3 percent.

The Surge of Erste and HPB

In the rest of the ranking, there are many changes among the 12 members of the Zagreb Stock Exchange compared to the ranking from a year ago. The brokerage department of Erste Bank records significant annual turnover growth, moving from seventh to third position with 57.2 million euros, capturing a 10.3 percent share. This has displaced Hita Securities, which is in fourth position with 52 million euros, having increased turnover by 38 percent.

The greatest credit for Erste Bank’s significant shift goes to equity turnover, which surged by 135 percent to 55.2 million euros, while their total turnover grew by 126 percent. However, the largest turnover growth was recorded by Hrvatska Poštanska Banka. While in the first quarter of last year, HPB brokers achieved 2.3 million euros in turnover, in the first three months of this year, they recorded as much as 6.9 million euros, or nearly 200 percent more. Such a turnover jump has moved HPB brokers from 11th to 10th position, with an increase in market share from 0.7 to 1.2 percent.

Zagrebačka Banka fell from fifth to seventh position, despite a 51 percent increase in turnover to 48.7 million euros. Agram brokers moved from sixth to fifth position with a total turnover of 50.8 million euros. Thanks to a 76 percent increase in turnover, OTP Bank brokers also climbed one position, holding 2.75 percent share with a turnover of 15.1 million euros. Credos remains at the bottom with a share of 0.4 percent, despite a 64 percent increase in turnover. The only two investment firms that recorded a decline in turnover are Raiffeisen and Podravska Banka.

RBA brokers achieved 15.1 million euros in the first quarter, which is 28 percent less. Consequently, their market share has halved to less than three percent, but RBA has only dropped one position to ninth place. Podravska Banka recorded a significantly smaller turnover decline of two percent with 5.7 million euros. As a result, it has fallen from 10th to 11th position, with a decrease in market share from 1.7 to one percent.