Jutarnji List published its analysis of the foreign markets and the Croatian national market. Since foreign markets are well covered in the international press, this review is limited to Jutarnji’s view of the ZSE and related developments.
CROBEX ended the first two months more or less where it started the year. In January it grew by 2.27%, and in February it sank by 2.4%. The ZSE is still heavily influenced by Agrokor and related developments. When Ante Ramljak recently resigned as Special Administrator, the index sank 1.56% in a single day. The drop could have been even more severe had not the Securities Commission blocked trading with Agrokor companies listed at the ZSE (on which we reported several days ago). This was, however, not the worst day at the ZSE in 2018. The tile, so far, goes to 06 February, when CROBEX went 2.34% down under pressure from world markets drop the day before. That day has also seen the largest volume of trading so far, clocking a total of Kn 14.5 million in a day. The last day of February has seen the second largest volume so far, with Kn 11 million, but with a CROBEX rise of 1% which could be seen as a sign of a pending recovery.
Jutarnji analysts see as encouraging the very good results of individual companies such as AD Plastika, Atlantic Grupa and Janaf. Some other companies, like Medika or Tehnika, were hit by the Agrokor crisis and performed weaker than expected or have shown losses. And some older big companies, like Uljanik or Petrokemija, still cannot survive without support from the state.
In January, biggest volume was recorded for Zagrebačka Bank, Valamar and Atlantska Plovidba, while in February picks of the month were Valamar, HT and Adris Grupa. As we reported earlier, the ZSE decided to ropen trading with Agrokor stock on 01 March, but the Securities Commission blocked it immediately. Trading with Belje, Jamnica, Ledo, PIK Vinkovci, Tisak, Vupik, Zvijezda and Žitnjak is not allowed until further notice from the Securities Commission, which explained that the ban is intended to protect investors and ensure orderly trading. Jutarnji reports that some investors are less than happy with the SC decision, as they believe trading in the markets carries inherent risks anyway. Be that as it may, Jutarnji foresees that the rest of the year in the market will certainly not be boring.