AVESTA Overview: January 6 - 17
Biweekly overview on Uzbekistan securities markets by Avesta Investment Group & Europe-Uzbekistan Association for Economic Cooperation
TASHKENT STOCK EXCHANGE
During the period, trading volume on the Tashkent Stock Exchange reached 6.8bln UZS. A total of 79 securities were traded, one fewer than the previous period.
Newly listed YRFS contributed over half of the turnover. This was driven by an M&A transaction worth 3.5bln UZS at 5,333.55 UZS per share. IFMT4 bonds accounted for a third of the volume, while URTS made up 4.6%. Notably, QZSM entered the top 10 by volume list this time. The list mainly featured liquid stocks due to fewer M&A deals this period.
In terms of price changes, UZTLP and UZTL rose by 19.1% and 4.6%, respectively. Meanwhile, QZSM and URTS fell by 7.6% and 3.7%, respectively.
The AVEX (Avesta Equity Index) dropped by 2.6% over the two weeks.
AVESTA EQUITY INDEX
*The AVEX index describes the general market trend by covering the top 20 listed companies, in a particular quarter, with the highest liquidity and transaction turnovers on the Tashkent Stock Exchange. The index is a sum of the daily stock prices multiplied by the weighted average coefficients given to selected companies. The base date is 01/01/2021 (1000).
Turnover breakdown
FINANCIAL NEWS
ECONOMICS
In 2024, Navoi Uranium JSC's production output reached 13.7trln UZS;
Uzbekistan's international airports handled over 13.5mln passengers in 2024, a 30% increase compared to 2023;
In 2024, turnover of taxi market reached nearly 6trln UZS, while taxi aggregators paid 156.8bln UZS in taxes;
Beepul, mobile app of Beeline, more than tripled its revenue in 2024. Transaction volume grew by 2.3 times, while MAU grew by 3.5 times;
Uzbekistan and Oman discuss establishing a joint agricultural processing venture;
Chinese DAS Solar to construct 1MW solar power plant in Bukhara;
Housing prices in the secondary market increased by 6.2% in 2024;
In 10M2024, Uzbekistan exported sweet cherries worth $70.3mln;
It is planned to attract $500mln in investments for the construction of tourist complexes in the mountains and near reservoirs;
Uzbekistan's GDP is expected to grow by 6% in 2025. The state budget deficit is projected to reach 2% of GDP, while the consolidated budget deficit is expected to amount to 3% of GDP;
Volume of cement sold through Uzbek Commodity Exchange JSC (URTS) increased by 58% up to 5.9mln tons in 2024;
US and Uzbekistan partnering on critical minerals;
Uzum was included in top 5 companies with Russian-speaking roots that received the most amount of funding in 2024;
Kazakhstan plans to launch a new railway connecting to Uzbekistan by 2027. Estimated project cost is nearly $550mln;
Foreign reserves increased by 19.1% and reached $41.2bln in 2024, including a 30% increase in gold reserves, which amounted to $32bln;
UzSAMA agreed to sell a 100% equity stake in National Interbank Processing Center JSC (Humo) to Paynet JSC for $65mln;
Yo'lRefTrans JSC was included in the official Tashkent Stock Exchange listing in Privatization category from January 14th;
Sarbon-Neftegaz JSC (SANE) was included back in the official Tashkent Stock Exchange listing from January 9th;
Central Bank of Uzbekistan purchased 9 tons of gold in November, becoming the second-largest gold buyer in the world;
Uzbekistan is looking to increase tea imports from India;
VAT and income tax rates in Uzbekistan will not be increased until 2028;
UzbekCoal JSC (UZIR) increased coal production up to record 6.7mln tons, increasing by 15% in 2024;
In 9M2024, Uzbekistan's external debt reached $60.2bln.