The total traded value on AIX for the last 6 months of 2021 amounted to $210,507,470, showing an increase of 6.3 times compared to the same period in 2020. In December 2021, the trading activity on the exchange slowed down to $13,922,599, which is normal for this time of the year.
Issuers, Brokers, Accounts
As of the end of December 2021, the official AIX list includes 136 securities from 89 different issuers, including 2 ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) and 17 ETNs (Exchange Traded Notes). AIX trading members are 18 Kazakhstani and 11 international brokers. More than 160 thousand investor accounts have been opened in the AIX Central Securities Depository.
AIX is actively developing its base of retail investors, the total number of which has increased by more than 1.5 times in 2021 and reached 159,248 accounts. The Tabys application, launched by AIX in December 2020, contributes to the development of a long-term investment culture among the population of Kazakhstan. Since the launch of the application, more than 16.7 thousand retail investors have signed up.
In December, a number of new listings took place on AIX – 7 issuers issued bonds, 3 companies entered the Pre-IPO sector, 1 ETN issue took place. A significant event for the market was the release of the iX Bitcoin Exchange Traded Notes, the base asset for which is shares of ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), one of the largest funds tracking the movement of bitcoin futures.
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) has placed two-year bonds in the amount of $100 million on AIX with a coupon rate of 1.5% per annum. Microfinance organization Freedom Finance Credit carried out 2 placements of debt instruments on AIX — dollar bonds worth $100 million and in the national currency for the amount of 30 billion tenges. Work continues on the issue of debt instruments of subsidiaries of the BI Group construction holding on AIX – in December, bonds of Midwest and Ken Dala were placed. Also in the final month of the year, the official AIX list added bonds of the Microfinance Organization Tas Finance Group and Bolashaq Investments.
In December, 3 companies chose AIX as the main platform for the future placement of their shares. The Pre-IPO sector included JSC Kaspiy Neft, as well as two subsidiaries of the Eurasian Resources Group — JSC Kazakhstan Electrolytic Plant and JSC Aluminum of Kazakhstan.
At the end of December, the total market capitalization of companies with an equity instrument listing on AIX (Kazatomprom, Polymetal, Halyk Bank, Ferro-Alloy Resources Limited, Bank CenterCredit, Kaspi.kz, Kcell) exceeds $45.8 billion.
AIXQI – H2 2021
Since its launch on July 1, 2021, the AIXQI has grown by 10.4% to 1,104.04 points, despite the high volatility of stock markets in the second half of 2021 caused by the spread of new COVID-19 strains and higher inflation. The maximum value was recorded on November 11 – 1,204.58 points.
According to half-year results, 6 out of 8 companies included in the AIXQI showed a positive trend. The growth leader among the index companies was Bank CenterCredit, whose shares grew by 59.84% in the second half of 2021. BCC shares had been underperforming since 2018, but in 2021 the bank reversed that trend on the back of strong financial results, improved loan portfolio and, as a result, improved ratings from the world rating agencies S&P and Moody’s. Despite the decline in the pace of the rally in uranium prices, which started in the first half of the year due to the increased interest of investors in nuclear energy against the background of the global energy transition, Kazatomprom quotes increased by 28.77% in the second half of 2021. The top three also includes another representative of the financial sector — Kaspi closed the half-year with an increase of 16.91%. Halyk Bank, in turn, closed the half-year with an increase of 7.66%. The year also ended positively for Kazakhtelecom – the share price increase of the leader of the telecom sector of Kazakhstan for the last 6 months of 2021 equaled 15.85% thanks to good financial results and a court case won against Telia Company A.B. with further compensation in the amount of $22 million in favor of Kazakhtelecom. Representatives of the metallurgical sector included in AIXQI closed the half-year unevenly — shares of Central Asia Metal rose by 8.46%, and Polymetal declined by 16%. KazTransOil shares ended the half-year with a slight decrease of 0.54%.
AIXQI — December 2021
In December, the value of the AIXQI decreased by 3%, from 1,138.21 points to 1,104.04 points, 5 out of 8 index companies ended the month negatively. The growth leader was Bank CenterCredit with a share price increase of 12.74%.
Central Asia Metals shares followed with an increase of 8.12%. The company released both good financial and operational indicators, especially for copper production in Kazakhstan — the plan for 2021 of 13,855 tons was outperformed to 14,041 tons.
The uncertainty created by the end of the year on the stock markets led to minor changes in the quotations of a number of AIXQI companies – the share price of Halyk Bank changed positively (+1.88%), Kazakhtelecom shares (-0.28%), Polymetal (-3.03%) and KazTransOil (-3.18%) slightly decreased. The shares of Kaspi and Kazatomprom that were among the leaders during 2021, adjusted by 10.61% and 10.57% respectively in December.