For the twelfth year in a row, the Zagreb Stock Exchange Awards ceremony was held in Zagreb.
The Awards Committee of the Zagreb Stock Exchange decided on awards in a total of seven categories, considering objective, statistical criteria, as well as the overall contribution to education and development of the domestic capital market: 1. Top Turnover Share, 2. Top Price Gainer, 3. Top Turnover Gainer, 4. Member of the Year, 5. ZSE Academy Award for Contribution to Capital Market Education, 6. Award for the Contribution to the Capital Market Development, 7. Share of the Year.
Mrs. Ivana Gažić, President of the Management Board of the Zagreb Stock Exchange, Jurica Jednačak, Member of the HANFA's Board of Directors, and Minister of Finance Mr. Marko Primorac, addressed the invited guests and awardees with introductory words and greetings.
President of the Management Board of Podravka, Mrs. Martina Dalić, on behalf of the Company, accepted the award for two categories, for the Top Turnover and the Stock of the Year as chosen by the public: Podravka will remember 2023 year for many good things, although the circumstances in which we worked were still unstable and challenging. We continued a strong investment cycle, implemented new strategies in our business and continuously worked to improve the material rights of our employees. Proof that we are on the right path is the historically record-breaking value of our stock, and thus the company as a whole, of which we are extremely proud. We are extremely glad that the investment public has recognized Podravka as a company worth investing in and that our share has attracted the greatest interest from investors. This only gives us an additional wind at our backs in the period ahead of us, and I hereby thank them. In the end - thank you to the employees, without whose contribution there would not have been excellent results and the achievement of our common goals, said Mrs. Dalić.
HPB d.d. share was announced as the Top Price Gainer: The award of the Zagreb Stock Exchange to Hrvatska poštanska banka for the Top Price Gainer is the result of investors' continued confidence in the extremely good business and financial results we achieved in the previous and this year in 2023, which is reflected in the increase in market capitalization. I thank the shareholders and the investment public for their trust in our long-term growth strategy, and I am fully convinced that we will continue our successes in the future, said Mr. Marko Badurina, President of the Management Board of Hrvatska poštanska banka.
This year's winner of the award for the Top Turnover Gainer is SPAN, which was accepted by the Chairman of the Management Board Mr. Nikola Dujmović: I am proud that Span's share is achieving good results. From the beginning, we wanted our share to be traded as much as possible, and this award in the category of the share with the largest increase in turnover confirms that we are succeeding in this. I am glad that the interest in our stock is not waning, that we are still interesting to investors. We will continue to develop quality and transparent relations with all our shareholders, of which there are more than 2,000 today.
Interkapital securities d.o.o. this year too were the winners of the award for Member of the Year, which was presented to Mr. Matko Maravić, President of the Management Board: The award for Member of the Year confirms the correctness of our strategy of constant promotion of the domestic capital market, the quality of our service and the commitment of all our employees. We are particularly pleased with the inclusion of new attractive ETFs on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, as well as their realized yields, which were above the vast majority of European and world stock exchanges. We hope that this trend will continue in 2024.
As part of the Zagreb Stock Exchange Award ceremony, PwC's Building Public Trust Award (BPTA), which has been awarded since 2018, was also awarded this year. The goal of the award is to recognize and reward companies that stand out for the clarity and transparency of reporting to their stakeholders, and this year it was presented to Valamar Riviera, while the special recognition to the company that achieved the greatest progress in transparent reporting went to Hrvatska poštanska banka.
The Zagreb Stock Exchange Academy Award for Contribution to Capital Market Education was received by professor Edita Čulinović-Herc, PhD, a Head of the Department of Commercial Law and Company Law, noting: I would like to thank you for this exceptional award given to me by the Academy of the Zagreb Stock Exchange. I would like to point out that my personal achievements include many colleagues, both members of the department and institute, as well as members of the project teams, to whom I would like to thank for the synergistic effect. All these activities, whether it is about organizing conferences, writing papers, lectures, enjoy the strong institutional support of the Faculty of Law in Rijeka. This award is certainly a great incentive for further scientific and teaching activities in this direction. Systematically and vigilantly monitor changes in European legislation, propose solutions for Croatian law, educate new generations of students in the spirit of investment culture in the capital market, and exchange experience and be ready to learn from legal and financial experts from practice.
The award ceremony was concluded by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Marko Primorac, accepting the Award for Contribution to the Capital Market Development on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, expressing great satisfaction that the Zagreb Stock Exchange recognized the Ministry's efforts aimed at expanding investment opportunities for citizens. He particularly highlighted the large number of new investors who joined the capital market for the first time thanks to the bonds and treasury bills issued by the Ministry of Finance, and there were more than 27,000 such investors.
When we founded the Zagreb Stock Exchange Awards in 2012, we wanted to strengthen the recognition of the capital market and its active participants among the financial and general public. Over the years, this event has become a beautiful tradition and an incentive for excellence. There are high-quality investment stories, projects and individuals on our market, and we are glad to contribute to their greater visibility with this event, concluded the award ceremony, President of the Management Board of the Zagreb Stock Exchange, Ivana Gažić, congratulating all the awardees.
| Category: | Winner: |
| Top Turnover Stock | Podravka |
| Top Price Gainer | HPB |
| Top Turnover Gainer | SPAN |
| Member of the Year | Interkapital vrijednosni papiri |
| PwC's Building Public Trust Award | Valamar Riviera |
| PwC's Building Public Trust Award - special recognition | HPB |
| ZSE Academy Award for Contribution to Capital Market Education | Prof. Edita Čulinović-Herc, PhD |
| Award for Contribution to the Capital Market Development | Ministry of Finance |
| Stock of the Year, voted by the public | Podravka |
