Sixth Edition of the CEE Capital Markets Conference

“The conference in London is undoubtedly one of the best opportunities to meet the representatives of the world’s largest financial institutions. The growing interest from companies, investors, and public authorities shows that it is becoming the most valuable and coveted event promoting the Polish capital market. This is evidenced by more than 450 meetings between company representatives and investors”, emphasised Zbigniew Jagiełło, President of PKO Bank Polski.

“We intend to show to investors that today, with its fast-growing economy, positive changes in the legal environment for businesses and valuable human capital resources, Poland is an excellent place to deploy capital”, stressed Jerzy Kwieciński, the Minister for Investments and Development.

The purpose of the conference, held every year since 2013, is to promote the Polish capital market to foreign investors. The first editions of the conference focused on domestic companies. This year, the formula of the meeting has been extended to include business from all over the Central and Eastern Europe region. The most represented group of attendees are Polish energy, fuel and chemical companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The event offers an ultimate opportunity for representatives of WSE-listed companies to meet fund managers and representatives of the largest London-based financial institutions.

Poland is perceived as a very attractive place in which to invest due to its excellent economic performance, good condition of public finance and growth prospects. In 2017, the Polish economy returned to its rapid growth path, with the growth rate now exceeding 5 percent YoY. As an important link in global manufacturing chains, Poland takes advantage of the worldwide economic recovery and strong pick-up in trade.

GDP growth is mainly fuelled by domestic demand coupled with strong private consumption and accelerated investments. Increased investment activity is reflected in an inflow of EU funds, the necessity to strengthen production capacity due to high utilisation rates and the need to improve efficiencies. An immense change on the Polish labour market (rapidly decreasing unemployment and an upward trend in wages and salaries), accompanied by significant social transfers, drive a strong improvement of the financial situation of households, which is reflected in sustainable and strong growth in private consumption. Despite the strong domestic demand, the inflation rate remains low, and the economy keeps a sound balance. External debt is declining, and the current account of the balance of payments is at its highest level for 22 years. Real property prices are also the most stable of all countries in the region, and a strong inflow of migrant workers keeps the wage pressure at bay, supporting the competitiveness of Polish businesses.

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PKO Bank Polski is the undisputable leader of the Polish banking sector. In 2017, its consolidated net profit amounted to PLN 3.1 billion (the largest in the Polish banking sector) and the value of assets reached almost PLN 300 billion. The Bank is the basic provider of financial services for all customer segments, achieving the highest shares in the deposit market (17.9 percent), loans (17.7 percent), leasing market (12.0 percent) and in the market of investment funds not dedicated (17.2 percent). With over 8.3 million payment cards, the bank is the largest debit and credit card issuer in Poland with a market share of over 21%. Thanks to the development of digital tools, including the IKO application, which already has 2.1 million active applications, PKO Bank Polski has become the most mobile bank in Poland. The Capital Group's companies strengthen the Bank's strong position. The Brokerage House of PKO Bank Polski is a leader in terms of the number and value of IPO and SPO transactions on the capital market. The effective implementation of the growth strategy meant that at the end of 2017, PKO Bank Polski was the most valuable company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.