WSE President Ludwik Sobolewski presented a summary of H1 2007 on the WSE at a press conference on 21 June 2007.
A Wave of IPOs
H1 2007 was a period of dynamic growth of the Warsaw Stock Exchange: 29 companies had their IPOs on the WSE (another 3 IPOs are scheduled by the end of June), including 4 foreign companies (Warimpex, Immoeast, ACE, Orco Property Group) and 3 companies moving from CeTO (Mewa, Ventus, ZL Orze?; another 2 IPOs are scheduled by the end of June). The value of IPOs was over PLN 15.1 billion year to date, including nearly PLN 13.3 billion of new shares issues. This sets a WSE historical record (IPOs in record-high 2004 were PLN 13.1 billion, of which only PLN 1.5 billion were new share issues).
Both SMEs and large corporations successfully raised equity on the WSE. The IPO of the Austrian real estate developer Immoeast was the largest public offer in WSE history at PLN 10.7 billion (Polish investors acquired shares of ca. PLN 463 million). The second largest IPO in 2007 was the offer of the Polish real estate developer JW Construction (PLN 777 million). By the end of June, LC Corp will have its IPO at more than PLN 1 billion. The IPO of Orco Property Group was more than PLN 652 million, of which Polish investors acquired ca. 55% (ca. PLN 395 million).
WSE listed companies were also very active in H1 2007: they raised nearly PLN 2.1 billion in secondary share issues. By comparison, the value was PLN 1 billion in H1 2006.
Foreign issuers are increasingly interested in the WSE. The Ukrainian real estate developer XXI Century Investments, listed on the London market AIM, plans an IPO on the WSE to improve the liquidity of its shares trading. The Estonian company PTA Grupp announced an IPO in May for similar reasons.
XXI Century Investments’ WSE IPO decision proves that the Polish market is attractive to foreign companies. It is also a result of the WSE’s promotion in Ukraine over the past months, including dozens of meetings, conferences, and presentations for the Ukrainian business community.
Growing Exchange Market Indicators
The WSE capitalisation crossed PLN 861 billion, almost double year on year. Capitalisation of foreign companies grew by a factor of 3 year on year, from PLN 96 to 276 billion.
The trading in shares on the WSE was up 43% year on year. The value of trading was almost PLN 206 billion at the end of May, approaching PLN 245 billion by the end of June, compared to PLN 171 billion at the end of H1 2006. The average value of trading per session is PLN 1.9 billion, compared to PLN 1.3 billion in H1 2006.
Investors are increasingly active. The number of orders placed on the WSE shares market was up by half. The number of transactions per session also grew by half. Currently 66 thousand transactions are made on the shares market.
The volume of trading by Remote WSE Members grows fast. The volume generated by Remote Members was PLN 2.3 billion in H1 2006 compared to PLN 7.6 billion in January-May 2007.
