Erste Group’s research team succeeded in taking the top spot for the third year running: they took number one position for share recommendations in the entire Central and Eastern European (CEE) region as well as in the Austrian, Czech and Hungarian markets, according to the “Austria and Central Europe Research Yearbook 2008” recently published by the independent research analysis firm “AQ Research” based in London.
This survey of AQ Research was carried out for the third time this year on Austria and Central European markets, examining the investment recommendations of 31 analysis houses/investment banks in relation to 173 reviewed listed companies. The increasing number of covered companies in the region demonstrates the rising significance of Central and Eastern Europe as an investment and growth region.
This is the third successive year that Erste Group has been named overall winner for recommendations in the region, with the strongest scores coming from a variety of analysts across the region. This result has demonstrated again the strength of Erste Group as an established local player versus its global counterparts still building a foothold in the region.
“Investing in Central and Eastern Europe is different, our blue chips are mid- and smallcaps in an international comparison. Hence liquidity and free floats are not comparable with major stocks. More importantly however, the bulk of these CEE stocks provide above-average growth. Of course CEE markets are influenced by global markets in short term, but in the lung run they should further benefit from the outstanding growth opportunities. We expect above-average economic growth in the coming years.This growth is should stimulate stock markets,” says Fritz Mostboeck, head of research, Erste Bank.