Budapest Stock Exchange

This week, a conference organised by the London Stock Exchange presented the V4 capital markets. Hungary was represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and BSE Chairman and CEO Richárd Végh. The event focusing on the stock exchanges of the V4 saw executive officers and investors in attendance discuss the underlying opportunities of the region’s capital markets, exchanges and listed companies.

On 27 – 28 June, the Budapest Stock Exchange and six domestic issuers attended the Spring Europe MidCap Event, a prestigious investor conference, in Paris. ANY Biztonsági Nyomda, Duna House, Konzum, Opus, Pannergy and Waberer’s have all conducted bilateral talks with the nearly 150 institutional investors from Western Europe in attendance, predominantly from France, Germany and the Benelux.

As a result of the support agreement signed by the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) and the Ministry for National Economy (NGM), companies which show rapid growth potential and are open to transparent operation in the public arena can count on professional and financial support for their IPO preparation. SMEs have been able to apply for support from the Budapest Stock Exchange to finance their IPO preparations since March 2018. Megakrán Ltd. is the first company to have been granted this support.

On 23 May 2018, the Budapest Stock Exchange held its annual general meeting, which saw the owners accept the report for the 2017 business year as well as the reports by the Supervisory Board and the Auditor. According to the annual report, the BSE’s EBITDA for 2017 was HUF 465.9 million, while its after-tax profit amounted to HUF 176.3 million. A resolution was also passed on dividend payment and the remuneration of the Auditor. The management of the BSE also presented the results to date of the 2016–2020 five-year strategy and the most important projects for 2018.

The Budapest Stock Exchange [BSE] signed a Cooperation Agreement with one of the largest stock exchanges of the world, the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The two organizations will work together among other things on creating new products available for both Hungarian and Chinese investors. This is another step for the BSE towards a closer cooperation with the dynamically growing Chinese capital market.

Plant protection products company Chemark, organic pasta and oil producer Agri-Corn, and Első Pesti Malom ("First Hungarian Mill") have started the joint international training program ELITE of the London Stock Exchange Group and the Budapest Stock Exchange. Thus, the number of the Hungarian medium-sized companies participating in the training providing corporate finance, management and networking opportunities expanded to 13. BSE aims to facilitate domestic medium-sized enterprises'  development.

The Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) has signed a support agreement with the Ministry for National Economy (NGM) with a view to increasing the efficiency of the Hungarian SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) sector. Hungarian SMEs can apply for non-refundable grants from the BSE. They can use these funds to obtain the necessary know-how for capital market financing, and to cover the costs of going public. The appearance of the new grants represents a milestone within the context of the BSE’s aspirations to offer new services which make public listing more accessible to dynamically developing medium-sized businesses. With this measure, the Government is making an important contribution to the development of the domestic capital market.

Under the support agreement concluded with the Ministry for National Economy (NGM), the BSE provides non-refundable support for the IPO preparation of companies with rapid growth potential that are open to transparent operation in the public arena. Companies can apply for the financing of expenses related to preparation for public listing as the second component of the programme, starting from mid-March.

The BÉT Legek (Best of BSE 2017) Awards Gala is one of the key events for the Hungarian capital market, which this year recognised outstanding performances on the stock exchange in 2017 in 13 categories, based on market performance and the decision of a professional panel. This year also saw the BSE introduce three new categories, give out a lifetime achievement award, and also give the public the opportunity to weigh in and vote for the “Domestic Stock Trading Platform of the Year” through the BSE website.

Last year saw the Budapest Stock Exchange continue the implementation of its strategy for 2016-2020: a new market focusing on SMEs, Xtend, commenced operations; the BSE’s analytical/market-making programme was successfully rolled out; ten Hungarian companies joined the ELITE company development programme launched in cooperation with the London Stock Exchange; and the Hungarian Exchange set up the Budapest Institute of Banking, its new educational subsidiary. The massive rise of the BUX remained unbroken for the third consecutive year, and cash equity market turnover (perhaps the most important indicator of exchange performance) also increased at an outstanding rate over the past year. UBM became a publicly traded company, and Masterplast and OPUS stocks became premium-category securities. With the listing of Waberer’s, the Hungarian capital market celebrated its largest IPO of the past 20 years. In 2017, the BSE also introduced three new mortgage bond indexes that are unique even by regional standards. Nonetheless, 2017 for the BSE was primarily about introductions to and negotiations – as well as establishing relations – with medium-size companies potentially ready to be admitted to the exchange.