Over the last decade, Romania and Slovenia have delivered returns at the very top of the global table, right alongside the NASDAQ 100, but without NASDAQ-style valuations, according to an analysis from Divo Pulitika, board member at asset manager InterCapital.<\/p>\n
The figures registered over the last decade show a clear picture. Slovenia\u2019s SBITOP, the main blue-chip index of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, is up +498% over 10 years and roughly +53% year-to-date, trading near 11.6x price to earnings ratio, and with a dividend yield around 4.7%.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Romania\u2019s BET-TR, the total return version of the Bucharest Exchange Trading index, which includes dividends, has compounded to about +385% over the decade and sits at roughly +28% year-to-date, at 10.7x earnings multiple and a 4.4% dividend yield.\u00a0<\/p>\n
NASDAQ 100, the US index tracking the largest non-financial companies listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market, with a strong concentration in technology, has delivered a 10-year return of about +436%, but trades at 33x earnings multiple and offers a dividend yield of just 0.7%.<\/p>\n
The S&P 500 stands near +243% over the same period, at 25x earnings multiple and a 1.2% dividend yield.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn other words, Slovenia and Romania have delivered long-run outcomes comparable to the NASDAQ 100, but with far lower headline multiples and materially higher dividend income. That valuation gap matters. At 10-12x earnings, the implied expectations embedded in prices for CEE equities are much more modest than for US large-cap tech. At the same time, dividend yields in the 4-5% range provide a tangible contribution to the total return that compounds through cycles,\u201d the analysis notes.<\/p>\n
Over ten years, EUR 1,000 invested back in 2015 in Slovenia\u2019s bluechip index and assuming reinvested dividends, would be worth roughly EUR 6,000 today, about EUR 4,900 in Romania\u2019s BET-TR, EUR 5,400 in the NASDAQ 100, and EUR 3,400 in the S&P 500.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Year-to-date, Slovenia sits near the top of the global YTD leaderboard, having registered a +53% appreciation (in EUR), while Romania is solidly positive, with the market increasing +28%, both outpacing most developed markets. Czechia, Greece, Hungary, and Poland also see solid growth levels, whereas many Western European equity markets have significantly lagged Eastern Europe in the past decade.<\/p>\n
For example, Germany\u2019s DAX has returned just over +110% in EUR terms over ten years, France\u2019s CAC 40 about +138%, and the UK\u2019s FTSE 100 roughly +62%.\u00a0<\/p>\n