Ranking of Hungarian brokerages shows cut-throat competition

One record was broken after another on the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) in April. The general BUX index rose to a new high of over 43,500 points and OTP set a new record too. Sentiment was favourable not only in Hungary but globally last month, and U.S. stock indices were also as high as never before. Loosening monetary conditions buoyed the mood on stock markets; the Fed broke off its rate hike cycle and the European Central Bank (ECB) signalled that it is not satisfied with economic growth therefore investors should not expect monetary tightening for a while.

The BUX index rose 2% in April. Richter showed the best performance among the blue chips, and finished the month nearly 6% higher than in March. OTP and Mol gained slightly more than 1%, while Telekom’s share price dropped.

Despite the new highs, turnover on the BSE declined markedly in April. Duplicated turnover amounted to HUF 318.5 bn, down 44% month on month. As April last year was also weak, the yr/yr decrease was somewhat less drastic (-15%). Average daily turnover came to HUF 7.96 bn in April, versus HUF 14.1 bn in March. Turnover with OTP shares suffered the sharpest decline; average monthly turnover was less than half of the March print.

Yet, OTP shares recorded the highest turnover in April, contributing to 41% of total turnover. Mol and Richter came in second and third with 18-19% contribution, while 4iG finished before Telekom, having contributed 6.8% to total turnover. Magyar Telekom’s share was slightly more than 3%.

The ranking of brokerages was topped by Wood with HUF 70.1 bn turnover, followed closely by Concorde (HUF 69.2 bn), and Erste was next in line (HUF 59.5 bn).

As for the Top5 brokerages, only Random did not record a yr/yr contraction in its turnover (+5%). Turnover at Concorde and Equilor was down by nearly 20% over April 2018, while Wood and Erste recorded a single-digit drop.

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