The Spanish financial markets bid farewell to 2021 with growth in financing and market value

• Financing flows channeled through the stock market amounted to 22.7 billion euros up to November, up 42.4% from the previous year.
• The capitalisation of Spanish listed companies increased by 7.5%, boosted by 17 new listings, and recovered the one-trillion-euro mark.
• The companies listed on BME Growth raised nearly 900 million euros, while MARF's outstanding balance increased by 86% over the year.
• Increased ESG bond issuance, including the Treasury’s first Green Bond, and the launch of the IBEX Gender Equality index, key sustainability milestones

BME today presented the 2021 Market Report, featuring the financial market highlights of the past year. During a meeting with the media, Jos Dijsselhof, Chairman of BME, and the CEO, Javier Hernani, set out the key milestones of a year marked by the evolution of the Covid-19 vaccination programme, the economic recovery and market growth.

Jos Dijsselhof highlighted the progress and opportunities of the integration of BME into the SIX Group: "The integration of our products and services enables us to create value, increase revenues and compete globally. Following the acquisition of BME, SIX is now the third largest player in the European capital markets infrastructure landscape, the fourth in securities trading, the fourth in post-trade and the second in financial reporting," he said.

Javier Hernani stated that 2021 will be remembered for post Covid-19 recovery thanks to the vaccination. He added: "If there is one word that has set the agenda for 2021, it is sustainability. BME's Fixed Income markets registered 27 ESG issues. Of these, the most relevant transaction was the first sovereign Green bond, for 5 billion euros. Another of the year's milestones was the creation of the Ibex Gender Equality© index”.

Throughout the year, 17 new companies joined all BME platforms, 3 of which were listed on the stock exchange (Acciona Energía, Ecoener and Línea Directa). In total, the companies raised 2.9 billion euros, compared to less than 1 billion euros in the previous three years. Capital increases marked their best year since 2016. Up to November, 86 transactions were registered, with more than 19.8 billion euros raised, up 34.5%. 

The financial markets have thus contributed to boosting economic recovery and the companies' growth plans. Up to November, financing flows channeled to companies through the stock market amounted to 22.7 billion euros, 42.4% more than in the entire year 2020 and up 51.1% year-on-year. These figures rank the Spanish market among the top ten worldwide in this category.

The year 2021 was also a good one in terms of value creation by the companies listed on the Spanish stock exchange. Their market capitalisation once again exceeded one trillion euros (1.02 trillion) at the end of November, up 7.5%. The rise in share prices and new listings account for this increase.

Financing channeled through the financial markets has also reached smaller capitalisation companies, thanks to BME Growth and MARF. Both BME markets have experienced a record year. BME Growth has listed 14 companies up to November, bringing the total to 127 companies with a capitalisation of 18.6 billion euros, almost 16% more than last year and more than double that of four years ago. The companies in this market have raised 880 million euros in new funding, 79.4% more.

As regards Fixed Income, MARF has surpassed the 100 issuers barrier by far, reaching 114 issuers. The volume of issues listed on this market up to November amounted to 13 billion euros, up 53%. The outstanding balance reached 9.8 billion, up 86%.

Spain remains among the world's top ten players in sustainable debt issuance. In the fixed-income markets and platforms managed by BME, 27 green, social and sustainable fixed-income issues were admitted to trading up to November for a total amount of 12.3 billion euros.

In Financial Derivatives, there was a 22.4% increase in the number of equity futures contracts traded, with a 31.5% increase in the open interest. In the xRolling FX® Foreign Exchange Futures market, the effective volume traded exceeded 268 million euros through November, an increase of 50%.

Another of the year's milestones was the agreement whereby Iberclear acquired Clearstream's (Deutsche Boerse) 50% stake in REGIS-TR, thereby becoming the sole shareholder and integrating  into SIX the repository business, which in 2021 had processed more than 3.2 billion trades. The transaction is expected to close during the first half of 2022.

Related Documents:

* Link to the 2021 Market Report (in Spanish)
* Link to the speeches
* Link to the image gallery