BMW 2013 Annual Report Download - page 85

85 COMBINED MANAGEMENT REPORT
BMW Stock and Capital Markets in 2013
BMW stocks reached a new all-time high during the
period under report, when the price of BMW common
stock was quoted at € 85.69 per share. The BMW Group
has the best rating in the European automobile sector,
thus giving it excellent access to international capital
markets.
Good year for stock markets on account of expansion-
ary monetary policies
Favourable economic prospects and the expansionary
monetary policies applied by the US Federal Bank (FED)
and the European Central Bank (ECB) helped to make
2013 a good year for stock markets. Within a highly
volatile climate, the German stock index, the DAX, was
able to pick up where it left off in 2012 and climbed to
new heights in 2013.
Having got off to a positive start, the mood on the mar-
kets was dampened towards the end of the first quarter
by political uncertainties caused by elections in Italy
and the threat of state bankruptcy in Cyprus. In April
the DAX reached its low for the year at 7,418.36 points.
Share prices came under pressure in June following the
FED’s announcement of its intention to bring its bond-
buying programme to an end over the course of the year
and on rumours of a possible credit squeeze in China.
Good corporate and employment figures in the USA
helped to improve the mood considerably at the begin-
ning of the third quarter, only then for concerns about
political instability in the Middle East to cause quite
large substantial price drops towards the end of August.
The on going expansionary monetary policies of the
ECB and the FED, combined with more favourable eco-
nomic data from Europe and the USA, helped the DAX
to
reach a new high of 8,770.10 by the end of September.
Agreement in the US federal budget dispute and the
FED’s decision not to taper its bond-buying programme
resulted in a strong final quarter. Despite some inter-
mediate profit-taking, the DAX recorded a new all-time
high of 9,594.35 points on 30 December 2013, before closing
the stock market year on the same day at 9,552.16 points,
marginally below its high for the year, but 1,939.77 points
or 25.5 % up over the twelve-month period.
The Prime Automobile Performance Index did even
better, climbing by 417 points over the year under
report to reach 1,393 points, 42.8 % higher than one year
earlier.
The EURO STOXX 50 finished the stock market year 17.9 %
up at 3,109 points.
Both categories of BMW stock performed exceedingly
well within the volatile stock market environment de-
scribed above. After a good start to the year, BMW com-
mon stock reached a new high of € 76.16 in January.
Partly as a reflection of the sharp rise in 2012, the share
price then fell as a result of profit-taking. The low for
the year of € 63.27 was recorded in April. It was only in
the second half of the year that BMW common stock
Development of BMW stock compared to stock exchange indices
(Index: 30 December 2008 = 100)
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
09 10 11 12 13
BMW preferred stock
BMW common stock
Prime Automobile
DAX
BMW preferred stock BMW common stock Prime Automobile DAX
Development of BMW stock compared to stock exchange
indices since 30 December 2008
in %
500
400
300
200
100
BMW BMW Prime DAX
preferred stock
common stock Automobile
448.0 394.4 274.1 198.6