Featuring top Kazakh companies and the region’s macro outlook for the global investment community
Astana International Exchange (AIX) and Renaissance Capital, a leading emerging and frontier markets investment bank, held ‘Kazakhstan in Focus Day’ on 24 October 2019 in London.
This specialised regional event brought together Kazakh companies from the aviation (Air Astana), financial (Halyk Bank), oil & gas (KazMunayGas, Nostrum Oil & Gas), retail (Magnum Cash & Carry), telecom (Kazakhtelecom, Kcell), transportation (Kazakhstan Temir Zholy), and metals & mining (KAZ Minerals) sectors as well as Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna and more than 30 major international investors, focused on or considering investments in Kazakhstan.
In addition to close to 100 one-on-one meetings between corporates and investors, the event featured two panel discussions – one on Kazakhstan’s macro outlook and the other on sector opportunities for investments in Kazakhstan. The panelists included high-profile government officials from Kazakhstan and representatives of leading local companies.
Tim Bennett, CEO of AIX, commented: “Our first investor conference in London has showed a high level of interest in investing in Kazakhstan. Feedback from current and potential issuers was also positive – they appreciated the uniqueness of the forum which allowed them to discuss the fundamentals of their business against a background of the wider opportunities on Kazakhstan and the region. We believe that this forum continued the momentum that we have built over the past two years to rebuild the capital market in Kazakhstan.”
Ruslan Babaev, co-CEO, Renaissance Capital, said: “Kazakhstan is one of our favourite macro stories, especially after it surprised the market with GDP growth outpacing 4.0% YoY in 8M 2019. Growth is being driven by consumption and investments supported by fiscal stimulus and a recovery in consumer and business confidence along with a smooth political transition. We expect that 2020 may become the year of renaissance of Kazakh companies’ IPOs and SPOs, bringing new opportunities for investors.”
Renaissance Capital has an established track record in Kazakhstan, having led some of the landmark transactions out of the region, of which the most recent are: USD128mn ABB placement for Kazatomprom and USD344mn SPO of Halyk Bank. In addition to executing capital markets and M&A deals for local companies, Renaissance Capital consistently educates investors on Kazakhstan’s macro environment and outlook, and arranges dedicated investor events such as NDRs and capital markets days.
In July 2019, Renaissance Capital became a trading member of AIX. As of September 2019, the Firm ranked #2 broker with a 15.5% market share. AIX membership allows Renaissance Capital to provide its clients with exchange access to sovereign as well as corporate securities offerings.
Reference information:
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Daria Khilenkova Renaissance Capital Mobile +7 (916) 805-4926 Email: [email protected] |
AIX was formed in 2017 within the Astana International Financial Centre. AIX shareholders are AIFC, Goldman Sachs, the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Silk Road Fund, and NASDAQ, which also provides the AIX trading platform. The exchange operates within a regulatory environment and is regulated by an independent regulator AFSA. The mission of AIX is to develop an active capital market in Kazakhstan and the region. AIX has developed special segments for mining companies as well as infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road initiative. More details: www.aix.kz
Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) was established on the initiative of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The constitutional law establishing AIFC was signed on 7 December 2015. The aim of AIFC is to form a leading centre of international financial services. The objectives of AIFC are to assist in attracting investments into the country’s economy, create an attractive environment for investment in financial services, develop the securities market of the Republic of Kazakhstan and ensure its integration with international capital markets. www.aifc.kz
Renaissance Capital is owned by ONEXIM Group. Renaissance Capital published its IFRS financial results for 1H 2019 (ending 30 June 2019) on 25 September 2019. During the reporting period, net profit was consistent YoY at USD8.0mn. Operating income was steady at USD78.5mn. Renaissance Capital was named as the Most Innovative Investment Bank in Emerging Markets in 2018 and the Most Innovative Investment Bank from Central and Eastern Europe in 2019 by The Banker’s Investment Banking Awards. Also, the Firm recorded an impressive set of results in the 2019 Extel Survey: the Firm maintained #2 position in the Frontier Markets category with Charles Robertson voted #1 Frontier Markets Analyst for the fourth consecutive year. In the 2019 Financial Mail awards for African equity research, the Firm’s local team was ranked fourth, and every single one of Renaissance Capital’s South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa analysts was rated in the Top 3. The Global Finance magazine 2018 awards named Renaissance Capital as the Best Bank in Frontier Markets. www.rencap.com/eng/