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It was exactly 17 years ago, on 16 April 1991, that the first trading session took place at the Warsaw Stock Exchange. At the launch of WSE, investors could choose among shares of five companies (Tonsil, Próchnik, Krosno, Exbud and Kable), the turnover value on the first session was PLN 1,900 and a total of 112 orders were executed. Currently, there are 358 companies listed on the WSE Main List (including 24 foreign ones) and the average daily equity turnover value is PLN 1.6 bln. There have been 3,803 trading sessions in WSE history, to date.
In addition to the Main List, WSE offers investors and issuers an alternative market – NewConnect – which, since its launch in August 2007, has attracted 46 companies with total capitalisation close to PLN 1.3 bln. Almost eight months into operation, there have been 155,000 transactions executed on NewConnect for a total of PLN 718 mln.
The Warsaw bourse is successfully competing on the international arena. The WSE is, in many respects, the largest market in our region and in terms of the number of new listings in 2007 it is second in Europe. NewConnect is effectively competing with the largest alternative market in Europe – LSE’s AIM. During the first quarter of 2008, the same number of companies have listed on both markets – 14.
The international character of the Warsaw bourse is emphasized by 24 foreign companies listed on the Main List as well as by our international partners including 19 WSE Remote Members and 9 IPO Partners.
The strategy for the coming years implemented by WSE focuses on activities leading to creating in Warsaw a competitive and high-quality financial centre for the Central and Eastern Europe.
