For long-term investors, however, the average return over several years counts anyway, so it doesn’t matter whether the year is good or bad. “Average return on the ATX at 6 percent since it’s been calculated, so 1991, that’s what matters,” Boschan said.

No IPO in 2022

Turnover on the Vienna Stock Exchange was higher in 2022 than anywhere else. According to Boschan, this is also due to which companies are listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange. Inflation and rising interest rates brought about a “reorientation towards result-oriented business models”, away from companies with promises of future profits. “Of course, the Austrian stocks with their classic orientation – oil, steel, utilities, banks and insurance companies that finance it – were way ahead.”

As a company, the Vienna Stock Exchange benefits from trading turnover. However, since these fluctuate and are difficult to plan, other pillars are becoming increasingly important. “All of these other businesses combined are now much larger than trading revenue,” Boschan said. For 2022 he expects a result close to the record result of the previous year.

There was no IPO on the Vienna Stock Exchange in 2022. “There was almost one, I can say that much, because the market circumstances that could not be influenced intervened”. Boschan pointed out that there were hardly any IPOs anywhere in Europe or anywhere in the world. The exception was Porsche, but the Porsche IPO is a special case and not representative of the overall market.

Wait for the right time window

Boschan believes that 2023 could be better than 2022 in terms of IPOs. “I’m not particularly pessimistic now about the next few years.” There are many companies that are waiting for the right window of opportunity and are already prepared.

As the head of the stock exchange explained, the zero interest rates of the past few years have slowed down IPOs. If, as a company, you get the loan thrown behind you and an IPO costs money on the other hand, “it is clear how the financing decision will turn out,” says Boschan.

Equity will also be needed for a CO2-free future, i.e. for the energy transition and the decarbonization of industry. “It’s really a ludicrous misconception that it can all be loan-financed,” Boschan said. In order to avoid de-industrialization in Europe, energy “from all sources” is needed, and renewables alone would not be enough – at least for the moment. Boschan spoke of an “incredible schizophrenia that this old Europe affords at the expense of the rest of the world”.

Natural gas can come from anywhere, “we cart it from the most remote corners of the world, it can come from anywhere, just not from us. We’re all sitting – Austria and Germany, both – on significant fracking gas supplies. You can stand by that, how you want, I’m not judging it politically and I’m not positioning myself politically here either, but I find it to be blatant bigotry that we’re getting it from everywhere with a CO2 balance sheet that’s also devastating, only we’re allowed to do it ourselves do not come”.