The BET index, which follows the price movements of the most traded 20 companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), closed 2024 up 8.78% compared with the end of 2023. The BET closed at its highest end-of-year value since launch (16,720 points) but 11% below its all-time high of 18,800 points touched at the end of July.

On the last day of trading (December 30), the index lost 1.2% after the Government adopted an emergency ordinance that sets new taxes for some of the biggest listed companies, especially those in the energy sector. The ordinance also increases the dividend tax in Romania from 8% to 10%, among others.

The end of the year was marked by high volatility on the Bucharest Stock Exchange amid political turmoil and gloomy economic perspectives for the next year. However, those who invested in Romanian blue chips still got a double-digit return in 2024, as the BET-TR index, which also factors in the dividends paid by BET companies, closed the year up 16.1%, which is more than double the return offered by RON-denominated Romanian state bonds.

Banca Transilvania (TLV) and OMV Petrom (SNP) were two of the BET’s best performers in 2024, in the large cap category. Banca Transilvania offered investors a total return of 32% while OMV Petrom returned 35%, including dividends. Telecom group Digi also offered a return of over 45%, and the BET’s best performers were drug manufacturer Antibiotice (ATB), up 83% in 2024, and restaurant operator Sphera Franchise Group (SFG), with a total return of 65%.

Meanwhile, the two large electricity producers listed on BVB, Hidroelectrica (H2O) and Nuclearelectrica (SNN), were among the BET’s underperformers in 2024.

The total capitalization of the companies listed on the main market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange reached EUR 70 bln at the end of 2024, up by over EUR 11 bln compared with the end of 2023. Only one new company was listed on the main market this year following an IPO – energy group Premier Energy (PE), which raised EUR 140 mln in May 2024.

The total value of transactions on the main market was EUR 3.3 bln in 2024, down from the all-time high of EUR 4.8 bln in 2023, which also included the historic Hidroelectrica IPO.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: BVB)