09 December 2022 - For the eleventh 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, Ante Žigman, phD, President of HANFA's Board of Directors, and Mrs. Ana Zorić, Director of the Directorate for Economy and Financial System at the Ministry of Finance as an envoy of the Minister of Finance, addressed the invited guests and awardees with introductory words and greetings.
CFO of Hrvatski Telekom, Mr. Matija Kovačević, on behalf of the company Hrvatski Telekom, accepted the award for two categories, for the Top Turnover Share and the Stock of the year as chosen by the public: We are extremely proud that our activities, engagement and continuous creation of value for our shareholders have once again been recognized by the financial community. This is how we won the 'Stock of the Year' award for the third year in a row, and the 'Stock with the highest turnover' for the seventh time in the last 11 years. Despite the numerous macroeconomic challenges in 2022, we continued to develop our business, achieved growth in key financial indicators and justified the trust of shareholders. And in the year ahead, we remain focused on our strategy and key goals and creating value for our shareholders, users, partners and the capital market.
Tankerska Next Generation share was announced as the Top Price Gainer: We are glad to have been recognized as laureates on the Zagreb Stock Exchange this year. The award comes at a time when the tanker market is marked by dramatic challenges and exceptional demand, while at the same time the global fleet of tankers for the transportation of derivatives is shrinking. Finally, after 7 relatively bad quarterly reports in the last two years, we can conclude that the forecasts are again significantly encouraging. In 2022, among other things, the company exited the multi-million dollar investment cycle that coincided with the pandemic. Fortunately, the pandemic did not leave tragic scars on our people at sea and their families, so we can undoubtedly and first of all conclude that our extra efforts and worries about the repatriation and health of our seafarers have been successfully overcome and now we can once again face all the global challenges in the upcoming period. We tried to be a company with a human face, so if we are recognized as such, this award is even closer to our hearts. It remains for the capital market, or its stakeholders, to recognize us, which they largely did this year, said Mr. John Karavanić, a member of the Management Board.
This year's winner of the award for the Top Turnover Gainer, which was accepted by the Chairman of the Management Board of HPB, Mr. Marko Badurina: I would like to thank you on behalf of Hrvatska poštanska banka for this valuable award. The year 2022 was for us a year of great changes and challenges and I am particularly pleased to receive an award in this category because it proves the interest in our stock and that investors recognize the far-reaching nature of our decisions. Behind this award stands the great effort and work of all HPB employees, and we will certainly continue to give our best in the future, creating value for our clients, shareholders and partners. I believe that this is another in a series of recognitions that await us in the coming years.
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 significant increase in trading and the fact that the Zagreb Stock Exchange had a relatively better return than the vast majority of European and world stock exchanges. We hope that entry into the eurozone will attract new investors to our capital market and help continue the positive trading trend.
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 Ericsson Nikola Tesla.
The Zagreb Stock Exchange Academy Award for contribution to capital market education was received by Mrs. Gordana Kovač in front of Virovitica Vocational School: I thank you for this exceptional award on behalf of our director and all employees of our School. The mission of Virovitica Vocational School is to introduce our students to the world of personal finance with the support of teachers and the help of numerous financial institutions and associations and well-known financial experts in the Republic of Croatia. Our goal is to direct them to the quality sources of information so that they know that when they leave our school, they are not left on their own, but that there are experts who will always be happy to give them the necessary information and remind them that financial decisions should be made without haste, informed and reasonable.
Mr. Darko Horvat, President of the Management Board, accepted the award for contribution to the development of the capital market on behalf of Meritus Investments: I am extremely pleased with this award, which comes as a confirmation of our past successes on the Zagreb Stock Exchange. In 2019, Mplus had a successful regular public offering of shares, after that we conducted a secondary public offering in 2021, and in 2022 we launched the first domestic ESG bond. Although we consider ourselves a global player, we have shown our trust in the domestic capital market, and it has reciprocated our trust, and thanks to these offers we have collected significant capital from institutional and private investors. We hope that with our publications we have made the Croatian capital market more interesting and that it will continue to develop as it deserves.
Mrs. Ivana Gažić, President of the Management Board of the Zagreb Stock Exchange, concluded the awarding ceremony, congratulating all the awardees.
| Category: | Awardee: |
| Top Turnover Share | Hrvatski telekom |
| Top Price Gainer | Tankerska Next Generation |
| Top Turnover Gainer | HPB |
| Member of the Year | Interkapital vrijednosni papiri |
| PwC's Building Public Trust Award | Ericsson Nikola Tesla |
| ZSE Academy Award for Contribution to Capital Market Education | Strukovna škola Virovitica |
| Award for Contribution to the Capital Market Development | Meritus ulaganja |
| Share of the Year | Hrvatski telekom |
