In 2008, the financial crisis crippled the stock markets across the world, narrowing volumes, cash flow, capitalization of listed companies, and the number of new initial public offerings.
Notwithstanding the effects of financial crisis, the number of IPOs on the Warsaw Stock Exchange was the highest compared to all stock markets in Europe.
WSE had 33 new listings on the WSE Main List and 61 on the alternative market NewConnect. The value of this year’s offers was in excess of 9.5 billion Polish zloty.
The number of IPOs on the WSE was down by 11 compared to 105 new listings scored a year earlier.
According to the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE), the WSE ranked first in Europe by the number of IPOs in the year by the end of November 2008, with 82 new IPOs.
In January-November 2008, London Stock Exchange operated 72 new listings, followed in ranking by Euronext, by a margin of 21.
Swedish Stock Exchange, OMX Nordic Exchange registered 18 new IPOs in first 11 months, while Luxemburg Stock Exchange scored 15 new listings.
Bucharest Stock Exchange recorded only 3 new listings in the above-mentioned interval, lagging behind Bulgaria with 7 and ahead of Budapest market with 2 new IPOs only.
The WSE Main List welcomed 33 new listings in 2008. Three foreign stocks were listed: Atlas Estates Ltd. (Guernsey), Belvedere (France), and NWR (Czech Republic). The IPO of New World Resources was the largest WSE offer by value in all of 2008 - 1.31 billion euros.
NewConnect alternative market attracted 61 new listings in 2008 worth over 42.3 million euros, Photon energy being the first foreign listing on NewConnect in 2008.
Over the past year, the WSE has grown to become the largest stock exchange in the CEE/SEE region. The capitalisation of the WSE is bigger than that of the Vienna Stock Exchange, the gap
