Press releases

• The average daily value of transactions performed on BVB with all types of financial instruments doubled in May. The stock market liquidity increased by 37% in the first 5 months.
• The growth of investment activity led the capital market to new all-time highs in May for BET and BET-TR indices. After the first 5 months of the year, BET increased by 16% and BET-TR by 19%.
• Radu Hanga, BVB President:
  • Bonds have become the new flagship instruments of the Romanian stock exchange, and the average daily value achieved by the bond segment has increased significantly.
  • Romanians have begun to move money from deposits to the stock market, in search of higher returns, a fact highlighted by the liquidity structure of the capital market.
• Adrian Tanase, BVB CEO:
  • Thousands of Romanians have become investors for the first time and have started trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange attracted by the opportunities offered by the listed companies.
  • Almost 280 companies will be able to benefit from support for listing in the next 5 years through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and the stock market can propel their development.

• The entrepreneurial companies searching for financing on the capital market will be exempted, as of July 1^st, 2021, from paying the processing fee for listing their first financial instrument on the Bucharest Stock Exchange Multilateral Trading System
• The facility comes after a period of two and a half years when an increasing number of companies have chosen Bucharest Stock Exchange for financing their plans and growth stories

• The bonds issued by BCR, worth RON 1bn, started trading on Bucharest Stock Exchange under the ticker BCR28
• Fitch agency assigned  BBB+ rating to the bond issue
• It is the largest bond issue traded on Bucharest Stock Exchange
• BCR sets a new record: the first BCR bond issue, listed in December 2019, had a value of RON 600mn, the largest at that time

• Raiffeisen Bank green bonds, the first of this type in the Romanian banking sector, started trading today, May 27^th, on Bucharest Stock Exchange Main Market
• The bonds worth over RON 400mn and are traded under the ticker RBRO26
• It is the fourth Raiffeisen Bank bond issue traded on the Main Market

• Peer Comparison, a new section freely available to investors via BVB Research Hub
• The new tool allows real-time comparisons between the multiples of the BVB-listed companies and their most relevant peers
• The data in the new sections is provided and processed fully automatically by Capital Cube, a global provider of financial analysis

Agroserv Mariuta, the company that owns the dairy brand Laptaria cu Caimac, went public on Friday, May 21^st, on the AeRO market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB). The shares are traded under MILK ticker. The listing of the company follows a private placement carried out on April 26^th, 2021 by which Agroserv Mariuta attracted RON 19.4mn from investors in the capital market, the largest amount attracted through a private placement for shares on the AeRO market. The listing of shares took place 15 working days from the closing date of the private placement, representing the fastest listing of shares on the AeRO market.

• Antibiotice (ATB) will benefit from the Issuer's Market Maker services provided by BRK Financial Group starting with May 18, services that  will enhance ATB shares liquidity
• BRK Financial Group is the first market maker for Antibiotice shares
• 10 financial instruments (nine issues of shares and one issue of bonds) benefit from the Issuer's Market Maker service on BVB

• Vifrana, a Romanian producer of organic wines, went public today on the AeRO market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange under the ticker BIOW
• Radu Hanga, President of the Bucharest Stock Exchange: "We are pleased to give the opportunity to investors to diversify their portfolios, as well as to support companies in their growth plans, through stock market financing mechanisms"
• It is the 7^th company listed on the AeRO market since the beginning of 2021 and the 1^st producer of organic wines listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange

• The market value of the Romanian companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) reached new highs in April, and broke the RON 120 billion ceiling following a 20% increase this year alone.

• The capitalization of the Romanian companies from the main market of BVB has thus exceeded the levels recorded before the coronavirus pandemic broke out.

• BET and BET-TR indices climbed to new all-time highs in April, 15% up in the first 4 months.

• Radu Hanga, BVB President:
  • Romania’s valuable companies receive the market certification because they are public companies. What is now worth RON 120 billion, in the long run can be worth much more.
  • We encourage as many companies as possible to go public because the presence on the local stock exchange is proof of economic health, not only of national pride.

• Adrian Tanase, BVB CEO:
  • Increasing the weight of listed companies as a percentage of GDP is a priority for the real development of the Romanian economy. We are at 12% of GDP and we continue to grow.
  • It is time to make the most of the financial infrastructure because it is the type of infrastructure that connects Romania to the rest of the world in a few seconds.

• Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) kicks off the 4^th edition of Made in Romania, BVB’s program dedicated to Romanian entrepreneurial companies
• The nomination period of the companies that will be part of the Made in Romania 2021 edition starts today, April 22, and is open until June 30
• The program platform, developed in partnership with Microsoft Romania, is www.investingromania.com
• The new platform offers to entrepreneurs the possibility to get in touch with investors and consultants, as well as with other entrepreneurs

Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) launches today, April 22, the 4^th edition of the Made in Romania program and a new digitized platform of the project, which connects companies, investors and consultants. The platform is available on www.investingromania.com. Made in Romania opens the nomination period as well for the companies to be included in this year's edition, starting from today, April 22, until June 30.

„Made in Romania is Bucharest Stock Exchange’s flagship program for the development and promotion of the Romanian entrepreneurial environment. Through Made in Romania we build an ecosystem whose core is the Romanian stock market, a framework in which local entrepreneurs can promote their business and get in touch with capital providers active on the local market, using a modern technological platform. We find the evidence of the success of this program, now at its fourth edition, both in the growing number of companies that participated from one edition to another, but also in the financing rounds that companies in this program have carried out in recent years through BVB, which have a total value of approximately EUR 80mn", said Radu Hanga, BVB’s Chairman of the Board.

• The first bond issue of the electricity and natural gas supplier Restart Energy One started trading today under ticker REO26
• These are the first bonds convertible to shares listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange’s Multilateral Trading System
• The funds raised through the private placement will be used for the development and acquisition of renewable energy production assets
• It is the 9^th corporate bond issue listed this year, along with six new companies that were listed with shares and three government bond issues

The electricity and natural gas supplier Restart Energy One listed today, April 21, its first issue of corporate bonds on Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), under the ticker REO26. These are the first bonds convertible to shares listed on BVB’s Multilateral Trading System (MTS). The funds raised at the beginning of this year through a private placement will be used for the development and acquisition of renewable energy production assets.

"Bucharest Stock Exchange is here to support the development plans of companies in the energy sector, as well as in other essential areas of the Romanian economy. The stock market is the right place for visionary teams and companies with growth plans, for which they need financial resources. The success of this bond issue and of the other issues that began trading in the last two and a half year shows the openness and capacity of the local capital market to support Romanian businesses, in different fields", said Radu Hanga, President of Bucharest Stock Exchange.

• BVB Research Hub is a platform with useful information about BVB-listed companies, essential in the investment process, through which Bucharest Stock Exchange aims to increase the visibility of listed companies and facilitate investors' access to quality resources.

• Radu Hanga, Chairman, Bucharest Stock Exchange:

"We are pleased to offer to investors, listed companies and brokers a much-desired product by the members of the entire investor community: fundamental research reports on the listed companies listed. The fundamental analysis is not new to the local capital market, but the novelty of this platform lies in offering, on the long term, updated and useful resources in the investment process. BVB Research Hub aims to be a dynamic platform, a 'living organism', through which we, along with our partners, provide specialized and essential information to the investor community".

• Adrian Tanase, CEO, Bucharest Stock Exchange:

"The decision to invest in the stock market and choose when, how and how much to invest, especially for beginners, can be difficult. Throughout this process, the fundamental research reports available on BVB Research Hub can be extremely valuable because they can provide a new investment perspective from financial analysts, as well as some information that is difficult to access by individual investors."

• Bucharest Stock Exchange will host an event on May 11^th dedicated mainly to retail investors in order to discuss this project and future ones initiated by Bucharest Stock Exchange. Through this event, we aim to create the necessary environment to identify new ideas to improve the visibility of our issuers and to increase the participation of individual investors.

The first bond issue of Alive Capital, the electricity and integrated services for the electricity market provider, started trading today, April 14^th, on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) Multilateral Trading System (MTS), under the ticker ALV23. The funds raised through the private placement will be used in investments in production of electricity from renewable sources and for technical support of integrated services activities, related to the production and sale of the electricity.
 

• New record highs on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB): Romania’s benchmark index, BET, and its equivalent including dividends, BET-TR, reached new all-time highs at the end of the first quarter this year.
• For the first time in the 23-year history of the BET index, the threshold of 11,000 points was exceeded. At the end of March, the BET-TR index posted new record levels and continued the rally to 19,000 points.
• Three months into this year, BET and BET-TR indices increased by over 14%, and in the last 12 months the growth rate was about 50%.
• Radu Hanga, BVB President:
  • The capital market could become the second source of income after wages. Whoever invests a part of their salary every month can end up accumulating significant financial resources thanks to the returns and dividends offered by the listed companies. In the long run, consistent investment behavior will lead to financial independence in a much faster and more realistic way. To be absent now as an investor in the capital market is like refusing a salary increase, and in the long run such an absence can be far costlier.
  • For companies, gaining access to capital is a natural consequence of their presence in the stock market, but the benefits of being a public company are manifold and on several levels: transparency, corporate governance, market-driven business valuation, increased advertising among investors and in the media, an increased degree of trust among business partners. Being a listed company is a public recognition of the management performance and allows to stimulate employee performance by granting shares through the stock option plan program.
• Adrian Tanase, BVB CEO:
  • We are at all-time highs and there is still a growing interest in the domestic capital market, both from institutional investors and from individual investors. In terms of trading indicators, Romania is one of the cheapest Emerging Markets, and the dividends offered by our market make it even more attractive.
  • The new records reached by BET and BET-TR indices represent a validation given by investors that we are witnessing a strong recovery in terms of the business performance of listed companies, but there are other important parameters through which stock market activity can be interpreted. Increasing market liquidity is a key development goal, we see an increase in the values traded on all instruments this quarter, but improving liquidity conditions, especially in the equity segment, remains one of the main priorities of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

The reals estate developer in Brasov Qualis Properties listed its first bond issue on Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), on the Multilateral Trading System (MTS). The bonds are traded, as of April 9^th, under the ticker QUAL24E (ISIN - ROGTMLWT0Y67).

The rainwater systems manufacturer Raiko Transilvania listed, on Thursday, April 8^th, on Bucharest Stock Exchange’s AeRO market. Raiko Transilvania shares will be traded under the symbol RKOT (ISIN - RON9LAI37W24), on the AeRO market within the Multilateral Trading System (SMT) of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).

Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) and Employers’ Association of the Software and Services Industry (ANIS) signed a memorandum of understanding in order to promote the capital markets financing opportunities towards the Romanian IT companies.

Firebyte Games is the first games developer for mobile devices listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), on the AeRO market. The shares of Firebyte Games will be traded, as of April 6^th, under the ticker FRB (ISIN - ROAYEN5H8FS2).

• SSIF BRK Financial Group (BRK) becomes the first Issuer’s Market Maker for bonds on Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB). Starting Tuesday, April 6th, the bond issue listed on March 26th by the real estate developer Impact Developer & Contractor (IMP), worth EUR 6.6mn, and traded on BVB under the ticker IMP26E will benefit from the issuer’s market making services provided by BRK Financial Group.

• The second bond issue of the online retailer and the manufacturer of mobile phones and gadgets iHunt will start trading on the BVB Multilateral Trading System, under the stock symbol HUNT25.
• Radu Hanga, BVB Chairman of the Board:
  • ”The success of the two rounds of financing carried out by iHunt in only three months on the capital market demonstrates that BVB investors are attentive to investment opportunities and are willing to invest in companies with development prospects. In the last two and a half years we have seen that the interest in financing through the capital market is constantly growing”.
• Cezar Stroe, Founder and CEO, iHunt:
  • ”It is a great honor to list the second round of iHunt bonds, under the ticker HUNT25. Investors on Bucharest Stock Exchange responded quickly to our need for financing by overwriting and early closing the HUNT25 bond issue, which is less than three months away from HUNT23, thus reflecting investor confidence in the iHunt business”.
• Ovidiu Dumitrescu, Deputy CEO, TradeVille:
  • ”It is gratifying to see an issuer that is very serious not only to its business, but also to its connection with the capital market. iHunt manages to have a high momentum and finance business opportunities through the stock market in an example of flexibility and confidence that I find admirable”.

Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) and SeedBlink signed an memorandum of understanding that aims to support the development of the Romanian business environment through diversifying the sources of financing and facilitating the access to financial capital for the companies.

Bucharest Stock Exchange and SeedBlink – the equity crowdfunding investment platform, plan to support the entrepreneurs who have innovative business development ideas and need investment capital. The purpose of this partnership is to engage shoulder to shoulder in developing the Romanian entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem, by easing access to financial capital for companies found in different development stages.

Agricover Holding, the main player in the Romanian agribusiness, took the first step on Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), where it listed a bond issue worth EUR 40mn and with a 5-yrs maturity, this being the largest issue of corporate bonds of a Romanian entrepreneurial company at BVB.

EVERGENT Investments, the investment company recognized for the highest market value and for the best return offered to its shareholders, changes its ticker from SIF2 to EVER, starting with March 29th, 2021.

Changing the ticker in EVER is part of the company's shareholder-supported rebranding process to reflect a new development breakthrough, according to the new Alternative Investment Funds legislative framework.

• Bonds worth EUR 6.6mn issued in December 2020 by the real estate developer Impact Developer & Contractor debuted at BVB, on the Regulated Market, under the ticker IMP26E.
• Radu Hanga, BVB Chairman of the Board:
  • ”This round of financing carried out by Impact Developer & Contractor is a further proof that the listing provides companies access to an inexhaustible source of capital, which can be accessed at any time by already listed companies. We are glad to see Impact Developer & Contractor is very active not only on the real estate market, but also on the capital market, where it attracted financing through this bond issue and, at the same time, together with BRK Financial Group founded the first Romanian REIT that they recently listed at BVB”.
• Sorin Apostol, Impact Developer & Contractor CEO:
  • ”The capital market continues to be the central axis of our company's national expansion strategy, due to the conditions of security, certainty and full transparency. The success of this round of financing reconfirms our company's long history of innovation and trust and motivates us to prepare for a new bond issue for large-scale projects that we will launch in 2021 and 2022”.
• Ovidiu Dumitrescu, TradeVille, Deputy CEO:
  • ”Impact is a real estate company that has managed to get past the time of 2009 and successfully navigate the changing environment of the last decade. Along with other issuers, both on the Main Market and on the alternative system, it proves that the stock market is starting to enter its normal role as an important source of financing the real economy. There is still a long way to go to balance the share of other sources of financing in the Romanian economy, but we can say that the premises are getting better”.
• Adrian Tanase, BVB CEO:
  • ”In the last almost two and a half years we have seen a growing interest in attracting financing through the capital market. Only in the first quarter of this year, we had 11 listings at BVB, four of which are shares and seven are corporate bonds and government bonds, which reinforces the fact that the capital market is a viable financing channel for companies wishing to develop. The four recently listed companies have a cumulative capitalization of 511 million lei, and the bond issues a cumulative value of 1.4 billion lei. The numbers show that capital market investors have the money to invest”.

• Romania’s Ministry of Finance attracted RON 709.5mn. and EUR 140.5mn. through the IPO for government bonds for the individual investors (FIDELIS) carried out in March 2021 on the capital market.
• The total value of the three financing rounds through government bonds for the individual investors carried by Ministry of Public Finance reached RON 6.1bn (almost EUR 1.3bn).
• The government bonds can be traded on BVB as of Thursday, March 25^th, in a transparent environment, through authorized intermediaries.

• Star Residence Invest is the first Romanian REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange, on the AeRO market within the Multilateral Trading System (MTS).
• Radu Hanga, BVB Chairman of the Board:
  • ”The Romanian capital market is more and more effervescent and we are glad to see how two listed companies, BRK Financial Group and Impact Developer & Contractor, have joined hands and entered into a useful partnership for both the capital market, as well as for the real estate market. Investors active on BVB will be able to invest indirectly in the real estate market when they invest in Star Residence Invest shares”.
• Monica Ivan, REIT Capital and BRK Financial Group CEO:
  • ”By listing Star Residence Invest, we offer investors the opportunity to invest in an area that attracts a lot of interest, namely the real estate sector - the residential area, a sector with spectacular growth in recent years. From our perspective, Star Residence Invest listing means the completion of a project through which we aim to offer investors who make certain opportunity calculations between capital market investments and real estate investments a tradable alternative that offers them diversification and much desired granulation. These companies have a tradition on developed capital markets, and we hope to harmonize domestic legislation with international law, where REIT companies benefit from a dedicated legislative framework that ultimately offers investors more facilities and benefits”.

• BET, Bucharest Stock Exchange reference index and which reflects the evolution of the most liquid shares listed on BVB, closed March 16^th, 2021 trading session at 10,844.45 points, thus setting a new all-time high.
• BVB thus became the first stock exchange in the region whose main price return index exceeds the level before the 2008 financial crisis.
• Radu Hanga, BVB Chairman of the Board:
  • ”It is a moment of joy for the entire capital market community. It is the result of the work of all capital market stakeholders, companies and, especially, investors. A very important factor in this evolution is represented by the important dividends distributed by the companies listed on BVB, if we look that the BET-TR index, which also includes dividends, is already at historic highs of several months. The outlook for this year is promising, as we see attractive dividend estimates, some even very good compared to the low interest rates on deposits. At the same time, the inclusion of several Romanian companies in the FTSE Russell indices will continue to put Romania in an optimistic light in front of investors”.
• Adrian Tanase, BVB CEO:
  • ”This new historical maximum is a confirmation of the fact that we are on the right path in the development of the Romanian capital market. The premises to accelerate the development are created, they only need to be used by market participants. We continue our efforts to improve the liquidity of the entire market, we see intermediaries becoming Market Makers, the number of investors increased significantly last year, by almost 12,000, to 66,000, and at the same time we consider a series of initiatives to boost issuers visibility, such as covering as many companies as possible through analysis reports and promoting ESG standards among listed companies. In addition to these positive developments, the project to establish the Central Counterparty in Romania is very important to create the conditions for maximum efficiency of the local capital market”.

• BET-TR index, which also includes the dividends paid by the companies included in the BET index from the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), went up by 17.7 percent from the end of February 2020 till the end of last month.
• Nearly a quarter of this growth pace, which is over 4 percentage points, was achieved during the first two months this year.
• Radu Hanga, BVB President:
  • There’s an increased interest for the so-called growth companies listed on the AeRO segment of BVB, but also for the companies with a solid track record listed on the regulated market. This effervescence is also reflected in the level of trading with different types of financial instruments, and the total value of transactions exceeded RON 2.4 billion in the first two months taking into account the two markets that had significant increases, 16% for the regulated market and 340% for AeRO market.
  • The year 2021 started on a strongly optimistic note for the Bucharest Stock Exchange. This fact is the cumulative result, on one hand, of the constant efforts made by BVB to promote itself as an essential pillar of financing and, on the other hand, of a better understanding and increased trust among the Romanian companies’ shareholders, who seize the outstanding opportunities offered by the presence on the stock exchange.
• Adrian Tanase, BVB CEO:
  • We are in a positive moment for the market as the premises to accelerate the development of the capital market are created and they only need to be used by market participants. Also, one of BVB's objectives to increase Romania’s representativeness in international indices is gaining more and more consistency. As of March, the international investors following the FTSE Russell indices have access to four Romanian companies: Banca Transilvania and Nuclearelectrica in All-Cap indices, Bittnet and TeraPlast in Micro Cap indices. It is likely that this list will include at least one more company in the 2021 FTSE Russell assessments.
  • More and more Romanians have chosen recently to invest in the stock market and their number is growing. This is also reflected in the level of the trading activity and we are pleased to see liquidity increasing this year after a very good 2020: in the first two months, the average daily liquidity was above the same period of 2020. We continue our efforts to improve liquidity of the entire market and we are considering a series of initiatives to stimulate the visibility of issuers, such as covering as many companies as possible through analysis reports and promoting ESG standards among listed companies.

• Agroland, the company that operates the largest network of agricultural stores in Romania, was listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, on the AeRO market, almost nine months after the listing of its first bond issue on the Bucharest market.

• The Ministry of Finance (MF) carries out, between March 1st and 19th, a new public offer for the sale of Fidelis government bonds for the population in RON and EUR, on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), following the success of the offers carried out in 2020, through which it attracted RON 4.74bn (almost EUR 1bn).
• Alexandru Nazare, Ministry of Finance:
  • ”The success of the Fidelis government bond issues launched last year with the support of BT Capital Partners / Banca Transilvania, BCR and BRD confirmed the trust that Romanians have in these savings instruments dedicated to individuals, in advantageous conditions. The Romanian state continues these issues this year as well, both at the request of individual investors, as well as to familiarize the population to familiarize the population with the mechanisms of the capital market”
• Radu Hanga, BVB Chairman of the Board:
  • The continuation of this program is a reconfirmation of the very good partnership between the Romanian State and the capital market and whose final beneficiaries are the Romanians, because through the acquisition of government bonds, on one hand, citizens participate directly in investment programs in the economy, and on the other hand, the amounts placed in government securities bring them a better return”.
• Adrian Tanase, BVB CEO:
  • ”Investing in government securities can be a first step in the world of investment for many Romanians. We are talking about an investment with a very low risk degree and which, once listed, gives the investor flexibility in managing his/ her money, so he/ she can sell it whenever he/ she wants, or he/ she can buy more”.

• Utilitech Services, a provider of technical maintenance, cleaning and maintenance services for buildings, listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange, on the Multilateral Trading System (MTS), its first bond issue, worth almost RON 4.9mn. 

• Bucharest Stock Exchange has given out 16 awards for the results achieved in 2020 stock exchange year to the top performing listed companies, brokerage companies, private pension or investment funds.
• Radu Hanga, BVB Chairman of the Board: 
  • ”2020 was a very interesting year, in which the capital market brilliantly fulfilled its role in the economy. On the one hand, we have shown that we are a viable channel for financing the economy, and on the other hand, we have provided investors with a safe and reliable environment in which they can manage their money, by buying or selling shares, bonds and other instruments, in a volatile and uncertain period”.
• Adrian Tanase, BVB CEO: 
  • ”The awards we gave out today are a recognition of the performance achieved in a year in which the maturity of investors and companies was above uncertainty and fear. We see that investors are much more mature, more attentive to how they manage their money, and this proves a change of mentality. We have witnessed a rather rare volatility in the financial markets, with sudden and rapid declines, followed by an equally rapid recovery, so that we have returned very close to the historical highs of 2007 in terms of the BET index. We are the only market in the region that has returned to this level”.

• The second bond issue of Golden Foods Snacks, the Romanian company that owns the ELMAS brand of seeds, nuts and dehydrated fruits, started trading on the BVB’s Multilateral Trading System, under the ticker ELMAS23.
• Radu Hanga, BVB Chairman of the Board:
  • ”The success of this new bond issue, which, although carried in a period when the economy is feeling the effects of the pandemic, demonstrates that regardless of the historical or economic context, the stock market is a viable channel for financing. We are glad to have more and more such examples and we are already approaching 40 bond issues listed only since 2019 to date, with a total value of over 2.1 billion euros”.
• Sorin Petre, Business Controller, Golden Foods Snacks:
  • ”We believe in the importance of a good relationship with our investors and customers and we evaluate each project in terms of the benefit it can bring both for the quality of our products and for a healthy lifestyle of our customers. In the next period, we want to discover the potential and usefulness of new projects through the capital market as an integral part of our company consolidation strategy”.
• Razvan Rat, Deputy CEO, BRK Financial Group:
  • ”The success of these two financing rounds shows us that there is a high interest from investors, so that companies can support their long-term investment plans through the Bucharest Stock Exchange”.

• Bittnet (BNET) shares will enter FTSE Global Micro Cap and FTSE Total-Cap indices as of March. Thus, Romania will have 4 companies in FTSE Russell indices: Bittnet Systems and TeraPlast (TRP) in FTSE Global Micro Cap and FTSE Total-Cap indices, and Banca Transilvania (TLV) and Nuclearelectrica (SNN) shares in Emerging Markets indices.

• Bucharest Stock Exchange brings to investors a new market data terminal, ExchangeLive 2.0, created in-house by BVB technology specialists and which includes new features and applications useful to investors.
• Dozens of technical analysis indicators, graphical comparator for financial instruments and indices, "heat maps", customizable lists of financial instruments, price alerts and virtual portfolio are just some of the main features of the new platform launched by BVB.
• Users with an account created on the website www.bvb.ro will have free access to this new terminal until May 22^nd, 2021 (update May 2021: the free period is extended untill August 22, 2021)
• The presentation movie of the platform can be watched at this LINK.

• The first bond issue of the online retailer and producer of mobile phones and gadgets iHunt has started trading on the BVB Multilateral Trading System, under the ticker HUNT23.
• Radu Hanga, BVB Chairman of the Board:
  • We are glad to see that iHunt fulfills its promise from the day of listing, to use the mechanisms of the capital market to attract financing, being, at the same time, an example for other Romanian companies. This bond issue, listed today, and the round of financing concluded at the end of January by iHunt prove that BVB investors are attentive to investment opportunities and are willing to invest in companies with development prospects”.
• Cezar Stroe, founder and CEO, iHunt:?
  • ”It is a great honor to list the first issue of iHunt bonds, under the ticker HUNT23. The overwriting and early closing of the HUNT23 bond issue reflects investor confidence in the iHunt business. Funding attracted through investor confidence will serve as a foundation for the brand development in 2021”.
• Ovidiu Dumitrescu, Deputy CEO, TradeVille:?
  • ”Technology is part ofTradeVille’s DNA, so conducting financing rounds for companies in this field is natural for us. After the success of the placement for HUNT23, whose listing we can see today, has already followed a second successful offer for the same company”.

• All the indices of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) ended in positive territory in January.
• The Romanian capital market went up by 5% last month as the BET-TR index reached a new all-time high of 17,500 points.
• Liquidity for all the financial instruments broke the RON 1-billion ceiling, +6% versus January 2020.
• Radu Hanga, BVB President:
  • We are pleased with the recent decision of the Romanian Government to pave the way for the listing of minority stakes in companies in which the Romanian state is a shareholder. Resuming listings does not mean privatization, but transparency and access to finance, while the state can still retain the majority control in the companies from its portfolio.
  • It is in the interest of the Romanian state to have as many companies listed on the stock exchange as possible because the capital market ensures a climate of performance and transparency, thus contributing to the development of the national economy.
  • We, at the Bucharest Stock Exchange, position ourselves as long-term partners of the Romanian state, and together we have a long and positive experience in using capital market mechanisms both through issues of government securities and through equity listing on the stock exchange, as the last 20 years show for the most important companies in the state’s portfolio: starting with OMV Petrom in 2001, a company in which the state has a significant stake of over 20.6%, and continuing with six other companies included in the BET index in which the state is the most important shareholder (Romgaz, Nuclearelectrica, Transgaz, Electrica, Transelectrica, Conpet). The stock exchange thus offers multiple examples testifying that the companies in which the state is a shareholder have become an economic success.
• Adrian Tanase, BVB CEO:
  • The advantages the companies can reap from going public are manifold. Through the rules imposed by corporate governance, The capital market ensures increased transparency in the way the listed companies carry out their activity, efficient management that is accountable to the shareholders, and also a correct evaluation of the companies according to the demand-supply dynamic.
  • For the state budget, the presence of state-owned companies on the stock exchange can create opportunities for additional cash flows to the budget. At the same time, it reduces the pressure on the budget to ensure possible financing because the capital market offers the possibility to companies to finance themselves by issuing shares or bonds that cover the much-needed investments, which allow the Romanian companies to develop.
  • For Romanians, the increase in the number of companies listed on the stock exchange means increased participation in the economic activity of Romania, either through direct investments by buying shares in these companies, or through indirect investments, such as investment funds or pension funds, especially since 7.6 million Romanian employees contribute to the Pillar II pension funds.

• The shares of the Romanian cybersecurity company Safetech Innovations started trading on the AeRO market within BVB’s Multilateral Trading System, under the ticker SAFE.
• Radu Hanga, BVB Chairman of the Board:
  • ”We are delighted with Safetech Innovations’ entry on the Bucharest Stock Exchange stage, first of all because it is the first cyber security company, a very important and growing industry. Just as many entrepreneurs are beginning to understand the importance of cybersecurity, so they are beginning to understand how useful the capital market is for their business and to support their development, especially in this difficult time caused by the pandemic”.
• Victor Gansac, Safetech CEO:
  • ”Today's listing of SAFE shares on the AeRO market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange marks a new chapter for Safetech Innovations. We are thrilled that 140 individual and institutional investors participated in the private placement and we thank them for trusting the Safetech brand. We have ambitious plans for the future and we are confident that, following today's listing, we will be able to grow at an even faster pace, delivering the highest quality cybersecurity solutions to Romanian companies”.

• The shares of the construction materials retailer MAMBricolaj started trading on the AeRO market within BVB’s Multilateral Trading System, under the ticker MAM.
• Radu Hanga, BVB Chairman of the Board:
  • MAMBricolaj listing makes us happy, first of all because it is a premiere, being the first company in this economic segment to enter the Bucharest Stock Exchange, but also because it is a new proof that the capital market supports the development of Romanian entrepreneurial companies.
• Cristian Gavan, founder and CEO, MAMBricolaj:
  • The listing on the stock exchange is a strategic direction for the company, part of the plan for the accelerated expansion of the MAMBricolaj store network in the main urban centers in Romania. We aim to use all the mechanisms offered by the capital market to support accelerated growth and to develop a successful partnership with stock market investors.
• Ovidiu Dumitrescu, Deputy CEO, TradeVille:
  • The success of the placement and the listing of MAMBricolaj show that the Stock Exchange is an option for large and small companies in all fields of economy and have a serious business and offer investors an honest working model, based on mutual respect.

• New all-time high trading value with all types of financial instruments traded on the main segment of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) in 2020: almost RON 18.3 billion, the equivalent of EUR 3.77 billion. It is the highest value in the history of the Romanian stock market.
• Record-breaking values were also recorded for the average daily liquidity with all the types of financial instruments: over RON 73 million or EUR 15 million.
• The Romanian capital market closed 2020 with an increase of 3.4% for the BET-TR index, which also includes dividends, a performance that occurred in a context dominated by the uncertainties generated by the coronavirus pandemic.
• Radu Hanga, BVB President:
  • The capital market has demonstrated, in perhaps the most complicated year in recent history, why it is a source of opportunities for both companies and investors interested in increasing their well-being. In 2020, on BVB, 3 companies went public, were launched 6 issues of government securities and 11 issues of bonds, which brought the total financing made through the capital market to RON 5.4 billion lei or EUR 1.1 billion.
  • Our goal is to increase liquidity and we have done so successfully because last year we had the best trading year in the history of BVB. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to look at 2007 as a landmark because we have already exceeded that level. We can't drive the stock market if we look in the rearview mirror all the time. We focus on what we have to do to develop our capital market.
  • We look forward to 2021 when we expect the stock market to continue to consolidate its position as the main financing channel for the Romanian companies and the main source of capital accumulation for investors. We want to bring BVB as close as possible to retail customers and explore all the channels that help us achieve this goal.
• Adrian Tanase, BVB CEO:
  • The year 2020 will certainly remain in the history of the capital market as a benchmark for the future development of the stock market. The promotion to the status of Emerging Market, the initiation of the Central Counterparty project and the start of the partnership for the implementation of technological solutions at the level of the BVB group are the key elements meant to fundamentally transform the Romanian capital market.
  • It is very important for the Government to use the capital market intensively, we saw this in 2020 through government bond issues, and we want to see decisions also regarding new company listings because it is for the benefit of Romania to have transparent and performant companies.
  • We are optimistic about 2021, we want to have consistent decisions regarding the economic development of Romania and, once the risks generated by the pandemic will be diluted, there are all the prerequisites to have a better year than 2020.