Strong H1 results and special dividends push the BET index to new all-time high and best monthly performance in Europe

Bucharest Stock Exchange’s flagship index – the BET – climbed above the 14,000 points threshold on September 12, for the first time since its launch, in September 1997.

The BET, which follows the most traded 20 Romanian companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, has gained almost 8% in the last month and 21% in the last year.

The BET’s growth in the last month is the highest in Europe and the fifth-highest worldwide, according to data from Tradingeconomics.com.

This performance was supported by the strong financial results ported by Romanian blue-chips in the first half of 2023 and the special dividends announced or paid by some big companies such as Fondul Proprietatea (FP), OMV Petrom (SNP) and Banca Transilvania (TLV).

For example, Banca Transilvania – the biggest financial group in Romania - reported a historic net profit of RON 1.58 bln (EUR 320 mln) in the first half of 2023, up 51% compared with the same period of last year. The group also proposed the distribution of dividends worth 902 mln (EUR 183 mln) from the net profits recorded in previous years, with a gross dividend of RON 1.13 per share representing about 5% of the current share price. The price of the TLV shares went up by 12.5% in the last month.

The shares of oil and gas group OMV Petrom also gained 9% in the last month as the company announced the distribution of a special dividend worth RON 0.045 per share (7.7% of the current share price) from last year’s extraordinary profit.

But the absolute champion in terms of special dividends is Fondul Proprietatea (FP), which will pay the biggest dividends ever distributed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange – over RON 9.28 bln (EUR 1.88 bln) resulted from the sale of its 20% stake in power producer Hidroelectrica (H2O). The FP shares contributed to the BET’s growth in the last month as their price correction was lower than the value of the gross dividend.