The Warsaw Stock Exchange Group has announced the New Strategy Directions 2025-2027 which aim to increase the importance of the capital market, build shareholder and stakeholder value, and strengthen GPW’s role as a regional financial hub. The priorities include investment in cutting-edge technologies and the introduction of investment products that will attract new investors to the market.
The GPW Group’s New Strategy Directions reflect dynamic economic changes and the needs of investors and issuers. In the next three years, the Group will focus on the implementation of two complementary pillars: capital market development and building shareholder and stakeholder value.
“The Warsaw Stock Exchange is the heart of the Polish capital market and we feel a responsibility to develop the market, increase our share in financing the economy, and attract investors and issuers. As a listed company, we strive to build shareholder and stakeholder value through increased scale of operations, cost discipline, and an attractive dividend policy. All this will be done in line with the top standards of sustainable development while ensuring state-of-the-art trading technology and the safety of stock exchange trading,” said Tomasz Bardziłowski, President of the GPW Group.
The GPW Group has defined five top priorities related to capital market development:
- Proactive efforts to develop the capital market in cooperation with its participants,
- Increasing the number of companies raising capital on the stock market and actively supporting issuers,
- Increasing the number of and activating domestic individual investors,
- Supporting financial education, promoting and building confidence in the capital market,
- Strengthening GPW’s role as a regional financial hub and playing an active role in shaping market regulations.
Building shareholder and stakeholder value will be achieved through actions including:
- Development of a portfolio of cutting-edge services and products,
- Strengthening sustainable development engagement,
- Improving cost and process efficiencies and strengthening synergies in the GPW Group through technology platforms,
- Increasing the share of recurring revenues and accelerating growth through strategic partnerships and M&A,
- Attractive dividend policy with ambition for growing dividend.
The Exchange is actively working with capital market stakeholders to strengthen the role of the market in financing the economy. Key initiatives will include the development of green financing instruments to support the energy transition, initiatives to increase long-term investment, and support for measures to facilitate capital raising by issuers in the market.
GPW is focusing on increasing the number of companies raising capital on the Warsaw Stock Exchange through cooperation between potential issuers, brokers, and investors on the GPW IPO Bridge platform. The GPW IPO Academy will expand its educational offer for companies seeking financing, which is expected to help the Exchange to attract new issuers.
Another direction is to strengthen the NewConnect market in order to facilitate the financing of innovative companies. Increased transparency and greater promotion of the market should make it more attractive for companies and investors. Closer dialogue with participants of the Catalyst bond market through the GPW Catalyst Forum should contribute to an increase in the number of corporate issues and the participation of individual investors in this market segment. The Exchange wants to actively support the liquidity of small and mid-cap stocks through close co-operation with issuers, investors, and market makers. The expansion of the Analytical Coverage Support Programme will increase the availability of analysis and information on listed companies.
Another important element of the New Strategy Directions are actions to increase the scale of long-term investment in the capital market. To this end, GPW will put even more emphasis on education of investors and entrepreneurs. GPW will also focus its efforts on expanding its product offering for all investor groups in order to remain the investment platform of first choice.
“We see significant potential for the Exchange’s greater financing of the economy subject to increased inflow of long-term capital. Attracting some savings now invested in bank deposits could provide capital and offer savers attractive returns over the long term. This is why we are building a culture of long-term investing on the Exchange. We want to strengthen communication with issuers and create more value for them as listed companies,” said GPW Management Board Member Michał Kobza.
Under its IT Strategy, GPW is implementing cutting-edge technological solutions, including the development of the WATS platform, the integration and consolidation of IT infrastructure, and the digitalisation and robotisation of processes using artificial intelligence. The implementation of an integrated platform for data governance and sharing and cloud computing will ensure further automation and efficient process management.
“Technology is the future of GPW. This is why the GPW Group’s New Strategy Directions cover intensive investment in new technologies, including the completion and development of the WATS trading platform and the implementation of solutions based on AI and blockchain. Following the implementation of WATS on the GPW Main Market, our goal will be to launch it on Catalyst and on the new All2All market for bonds. The data market is also key for us. We plan to implement a state-of-the-art platform to offer advanced financial and ESG data services that will deliver value to our clients,” said GPW Vice-President Sławomir Panasiuk.
GPW aims to strengthen Warsaw’s role as a regional financial hub by increasing cooperation between stock exchange infrastructures. These efforts include the Memorandum of Understanding signed by seven Central European stock exchanges and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on 13 November 2024. The aim of the partnership is to strengthen regional capital markets.
“We want to cooperate more closely with other exchanges in the region, including the exchange of knowledge, promotion of markets, and harmonisation of services. Together we can be heard in Brussels, and by speaking in a single voice with national capital market institutions and regional exchanges in consultations on EU regulations, we want to develop a regulatory environment favourable for the development of the exchange,” said Dr Monika Gorgoń, Member of the GPW Management Board.
New ESG products and services for issuers will be launched. GPW will promote education to raise public awareness of the importance of ESG and sustainability. The Exchange has launched the GPW FutureBridge leadership development programme which will create new opportunities for women leaders by matching their potential with listed companies seeking talent for board and management positions. The first element of the programme is the Intra-University Educational Programme created together with the Warsaw School of Economics and the Kozminski University. The objective is to prepare candidates for positions on management and supervisory boards, taking into account the specificity of listed companies’ operations and corporate requirements, as well as the challenges of managing state-owned companies.
“GPW FutureBridge is open to cooperation with organisations and issuers. We are certain that knowledge and experience will go hand in hand with the aspirations of women and the needs of listed companies,” said Dr Monika Gorgoń, Member of the GPW Management Board.
Increasing the profitability of the GPW Group while maintaining a stable dividend policy remains one of the key elements of the New Strategy Directions. The company has paid a total of PLN 1.35 billion in dividends to shareholders since its IPO. GPW’s priority is to maintain a high dividend payout ratio and strive to steadily increase the amount of dividend per share as an important part of building confidence among investors and highlighting the Group’s financial stability. The Exchange will propose to pay dividends more frequently than once a year.
It is the ambition of the GPW Group Management Board to grow revenues by approx. 6-8% CAGR in the next three years. The share of revenues independent of turnover will increase. Cost optimisation initiatives will ensure that the growth of the Group’s operating expenses will be lower than the growth of revenues in the coming years and should not exceed 4-6% CAGR. This relationship between the growth of revenues and costs should boost the profitability of the GPW Group. EBITDA is expected to grow by 8-12% CAGR between 2025 and 2027.
“Our goal is to reduce the cost/income (C/I) ratio from the current 72% to around 65% in 2027. Along with cost optimisation, we will aim to improve return on equity (ROE), which is expected to increase from 15% in 2023 to around 18% in 2027. The key performance indicators will allow us to monitor the achievement of our targets and measure the success of the initiatives. We are aware of the impact of external factors but we believe that consistent implementation of the New Strategy Directions will ensure the achievement of these ambitious goals,” said Marcin Rulnicki, Member of the GPW Management Board.
One solid pillar of the New Strategy Directions is the offering of Towarowa Giełda Energii, which plays a key role in the current energy transition in Poland. The draft National Energy and Climate Plan provides for an increase in the share of RES energy from 26% to 56% in 2030. The development of the RES sector and the growing importance of ESG will increase the demand for green products and services. The TGE Group plans to adapt its exchange mechanisms and expand its offering in the coming years.
“Due to the dynamic change in the energy industry and emerging trends in Europe, we have spent the last few months analysing the commodity market and identifying the opportunities that are opening up for our group. The needs of market participants have always determined our actions and new solutions. This is why our new direction is to launch electricity and gas futures. They will allow to hedge the prices of these commodities, including RES investment projects. We hope that the decoupling of long-term contracting from physical delivery will attract new customers and improve liquidity on the exchange. An important element of the Group’s strategy is the development of balancing and flexibility services which will certainly contribute to strengthening the country’s energy security and increasing the absorption of RES energy by the transmission and distribution system,” said TGE President Piotr Listwoń.
The GPW Group has for years remained the leader of the capital market in Central and Eastern Europe. The New Strategy Directions reinforce the Exchange’s commitment to economic growth, innovation, and sustainability.
