Warsaw Stock Exchange: Another WIG20 Company Issues Bonds And Introduces Them To Catalyst Market

• Debt instruments worth PLN 1 billion issued by PKN Orlen have been newly listed on the Exchange’s bond market today.
• PKN Orlen is the 127^th issuer on the Catalyst market and a new listing of the biggest value of issue this year.
• 2012 is likely to be a record-breaking year by the number of new listings on the debt market.

As of today, investors can buy seven-year bonds of the company PKN Orlen. Debt instruments with a nominal value of PLN 1 billion have been introduced to the Catalyst market. It is an issue of the highest value introduced to Catalyst this year. The bonds were issued by the Płock-based oil corporation in February 2012. They were then acquired by pension funds (61.8 percent), insurers (27.2 percent), investment funds and asset management funds (11 percent).

One of the reasons for the introduction of the Orlen bonds to the WSE’s debt market was to address the expectations of pension funds, which acquired the company’s bonds in anticipation of their eventual introduction to trading ensuring their full standardisation and transparency. Cash raised in the issue of the debt instruments outside the banking sector allows PKN Orlen to diversify its sources of financing. From the perspective of investors, the presence of the debt instruments on the Catalyst market ensures liquidity of investment and safety of clearing of trade guaranteed by the National Depository for Securities.

The issued bonds bear interest at a floating rate set on a semi-annual basis at WIBOR 6M plus a margin of 1.6 percent. The interest rate is 6.58 percent in the first interest period. The maturity of the debt instruments is 27 February 2019.

PKN Orlen is the 127^th issuer on the Catalyst market and the 29^th new listing on the debt market in 2012. Catalyst lists debt instruments of 94 companies, 21 co-operative banks and 11 local governments.

The Catalyst market has opened new financing opportunities for companies and local governments. Many entities have realised that entry to a transparent public bond market not only provides a source of additional funding but also ensures more prestige, investor confidence and excellent promotion of the issuer.

This is reflected in the fast growing number of companies which introduce their bonds to Catalyst. While in 2011 there were 57 new corporate investors (including co-operatives), bonds of 19 companies including the WSE itself were introduced to trading on the debt market in Q1 2012. By comparison, 25 issuers were newly listed on the two stock markets over that period, which demonstrates the significant and growing share of the Catalyst market in the Exchange’s offer for investors. Moreover, the highest number of issuers in the history of Catalyst may be newly listed in 2012.

“The number of bond issuers is increasing steadily. It is not unlikely that the number of new listings on the debt market will break a record or come close to a record this year. Importantly for us, these are not only small issues; they are also issues of the biggest Polish companies, including WIG20 index participants, which are beginning to introduce their debt instruments to Catalyst. The best and newest example is the issue of Orlen’s bonds,” said Ludwik Sobolewski, President of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Catalyst market: opened by the WSE on 30 September 2009, it lists nearly 300 series of corporate, co-operative and local government bonds in an aggregate value of issue above PLN 40 billion issued by more than 100 issuers. The Catalyst market is one of the biggest achievements of the Polish and regional capital market.

Table: Biggest issuers of corporate bonds listed on Catalyst: