- Twelve companies completed listings – among them the third-largest IPO in Europe
- Trading turnover of CHF 1361.3 billion (+ 1.1% year-on-year, average daily trading turnover of CHF 5.5 billion)
- Market share of SIX in Swiss large caps climbs to in excess of 70%
- Turnover triples on the SwissAtMid non-displayed platform
- New all-time record in ETFs in terms of number of listed products
- Preparations for SIX Digital Exchange well underway
The 2018 financial year on the Swiss stock exchange was characterized by numerous listings. Twelve companies completed this step in total, the highest number reached since 2001. The good global environment for IPOs and the high level of listing activity by companies in the past year was therefore also reflected on the Swiss stock exchange. SIX carried out Europe’s third-largest IPO in 2018, the IPO of SIG Combibloc with a transaction volume of CHF 1.7 billion. In the previous year SIX recorded a total IPO transaction volume of CHF 3.9 billion, ranking it fourth in Europe behind Deutsche Börse, London Stock Exchange and Euronext. The latter was just slightly ahead of SIX in third place.
SIX also registered higher trading activity compared with the previous year. Trading turnover was up by 1.1%, reaching 1361.3 billion by the end of 2018. The number of trades rose as well, climbing by 17.3% to a total of 60'300'579 trades. This means that on an average trading day, securities with a total value of CHF 5.5 billion changed hands. This volume equates to 242,171 trades on an average trading day. Similar to the previous year, the market share of SIX in Swiss large cap trading rose again – this time from 68.3% to 70.6%.
SIX posted the highest monthly turnover in October, when the trading volume reached around CHF 128.2 billion. The highest number of trades were in October as well, totalling 6,210,722 trades. The single day with the highest trading turnover was 2 May 2018, when volume reached CHF 12.3 billion. The day with the most trades was 6 February 2018. On this Tuesday 506,603 trades were executed. As in the previous year, the stock with the highest trading turnover was NESTLE N, at CHF 117.4 billion. This security was also traded the most, at 2,882,778 trades.
New listings in the ETF segment reached a new record, with issuers listing a total of 274 new ETFs in 2018. This meant that 1,450 ETFs from 25 issuers were tradeable at SIX as at the end of 2018 – more than ever before. The bonds segment saw 311 new product listings (+16.0%), with a total of 39,350 in the structured products segment (+9.7%).
SwissAtMid in 2018 again posted sharply higher trading turnover. This platform has established itself as the non-displayed liquidity pool with the highest trading turnover for trading Swiss equities and it makes it possible to trade at the mid-point price of the public order book. Following a continuous increase in the platform’s monthly turnover since its launch in October 2016 until the end of 2017, the total trading turnover nearly tripled year-on-year in 2018, reaching CHF 14.0 billion.
«2018 was a realignment year for SIX. That’s why I am all the more pleased that it was a good year for our exchange,» emphasizes Jos Dijsselhof, CEO SIX. «We carried out the highest number of initial public offerings in 17 years, as well as the third-largest IPO in Europe. As in the previous year, our market share in Swiss large cap trading rose again – and now exceeds 70%. These values demonstrate our appeal as a venue for listing and trading securities. At the same time, we have continuously invested in the enhancement of our systems, and the preparations for SIX Digital Exchange are well underway. This will enable us to provide good trading conditions for Swiss securities and strengthen our position as their reference market.»
Overview of the individual segments
Although most segments were lower compared with the previous year, the equities including funds segment, by far the largest trading segment, posted growth. Its trading turnover increased by 4.7% to CHF 1,108.3 billion. The number of trades rose sharply as well, climbing 18.0% to 58,251,470. In terms of bonds, trading turnover fell by 6.6% to CHF 120.6 billion, and the number of trades declined by 1.1% to 352,131. Trading turnover in ETFs decreased by 13.7% to CHF 100.5 billion, even though the number of trades increased by 4.5% to 1,064,875. Trading turnover in foreign currency bonds fell by 36.1% to CHF 16.8 billion, and the number of trades declined by 28.3% to 14,903. The structured products and warrants segment saw turnover fall by 5.9% to CHF 15.0 billion, with the number of trades down 0.9% at 617,200.
The performance of the leading equity indices in 2018 was as follows: the blue chip SMI® index stood at 8,429.3 points as at the end of December (-10.2% versus the end of 2017). The SLI Swiss Leader Index® closed at 1,296.0 points (-14.6%) and the broader-based SPI® at 9'830.1 points (-8.6%). The leading bond index, the SBI® AAA-BBB Total Return, posted a slightly positive performance, increasing by 0.1% to 136.5 points.