If I had to describe BME’s central mission in five words, they would be “to be close to companies”. This implies offering safe, solid, transparent and liquid financial markets, as only regulated markets can do. Also, of course, listening to the needs of the companies and being by their side in all their phases of growth, since the doors of the Stock Exchange are open to small and medium-sized companies.
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to participate in Finanza, the financial meeting point organized by Elkargi and promoted by El Diario Vasco and El Correo, where I was able to listen to the reflections of a good number of businessmen and entrepreneurs on the possibility of accessing the markets as a way to diversify their sources of financing. It was very illustrative and exciting, since in those talks I appreciated an increasingly palpable reality: the growing opening of SMEs to the Stock Market. One of the common points of the various interventions at that meeting was the need to gain size to strengthen the business fabric. For example, I heard the fact that 60% of employment in Gipuzkoa is in companies with less than 50 employees. Undoubtedly, the financial markets are the ideal place to promote this necessary growth.
Just a few years ago, markets were not even an option for smaller companies. Today, although there is still a long way to go, it is increasingly on their radar, in part, thanks to the constant growth of BME Growth and MARF.
There are currently around twenty Basque listed companies, between the main market and BME Growth, and Basque companies issuing on the MARF make up 18% of this market. The Basque Country also has a solid industrial base, since this sector represents 24.2% of the national GDP. It is the community that allocates the largest percentage of its wealth to investment in R&D, 2.03%, and it is also a great hub for innovation and talent promotion. In other words, it has everything to be even more of a protagonist in the financial markets.
Why is it important to quote
Becoming a listed company makes all the difference. Joining BME Growth, the SME Stock Exchange, offers visibility and reputation, which also helps attract talent. BME Growth companies can finance their growth thanks to access to investors specializing in small and medium-sized companies. Since 2018, the number of institutional investors active in this BME market has multiplied by 2.5.
Furthermore, international investors prefer listed companies to those that are not. This is demonstrated by the data from the Financial Accounts at the end of 2021 of the Bank of Spain, which indicate that international investors own slightly more than 50% of the listed Spanish shares and barely 24% of the shares and other participations in the capital of unlisted companies. That is, less than half.
Taking the step of going to market is not always easy for companies, especially when they are family companies with a long tradition. It is important that they know that listing does not imply losing control of the company, since when an investor trusts a company, he does so because he is satisfied with the work of its managers. To combat prejudice and lose fear, for a few years now at BME we have offered the option of joining the Pre-Market Environment. It is a training program, something like a test bench in which companies can prepare to make the leap into the financial markets. There are already five companies that have joined BME Growth from the Pre-Market Environment, where we now have 21 companies and 24 partners.
In short, at BME we continue working to be close to companies and so that they feel close to the financial markets. This is crucial, as it can give them the ultimate push to make a difference.