Gielda Papierow Wartosciowych w Wrszw : CEE investment opportunities presented to US investors

Warsaw, 29 May 2018

CEE investment opportunities presented to US investors

PRESS RELEASE

• The stock exchanges from Warsaw, Prague and Bucharest met with US investors during the 'CEE Investor Days' conference dedicated to promoting their countries' investment opportunities
• The event highlighted the progress made by the capital markets and showcased top companies listed on the exchanges

The 'CEE Investor Days' conference took place in New York on May 23-24 and was organized by the Stock Exchanges from Warsaw, Prague and Bucharest in cooperation with independent brokerage firm Wood & Company. During the two days of the event, 34 companies from Poland, Czech Republic and Romania met with 84 institutional investors representing 59 largest US investment houses.

'Wood & Co. was delighted to collaborate on this inaugural, one-of-a-kind event in New York with the Bucharest, Prague, and Warsaw Stock Exchanges. It's so important to the continued development of our region that investment opportunities in Central East Europe be visible to fund managers globally. To that end, we brought companies from Romania, which is a frontier market on the FTSE Russell watchlist for Emerging classification; from the Czech Republic, an EM country with a great balance of growth and stability; and Poland, which was recently upgraded to Developed by FTSE, but continues to offer access to many segments of a dynamic, emerging economy. Feedback from US based investors on the event format has been excellent - we thank our exchange partners for their help in making this a success,' said Kristen Andrasko, Co-Head of Equities Wood & Company.

Representatives of the stock exchanges present at the event, stated:

'We are here to meet with US investors to promote our capital market and its advantages. And we have plenty of them. Dynamic development of the Polish economy and attractive valuations of Polish companies, together with the positive rates of return and high dividend rates, represent a good argument for investing on our market. FTSE Russell's decision to upgrade Poland to the Developed Market status is a proof that Poland is an interesting point on the world's investment map,' Jacek Fotek, Vicepresident of the Management Board and CFO of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
'It is a great opportunity for us to present Prague Stock Exchange (PSE) as well-established market with many opportunities for foreign investors. High dividend yield (the highest from OECD countries), experienced members of the exchange and state of the art trading platform (Xetra) is just few of many advantages of PSE,' Petr Koblic, CEO of the Prague Stock Exchange.

'For the last years, the Romanian capital market undertook a deep reform for improving infrastructure and legislation, and for easing investors' access to the market and facilitating new corporate IPOs. The permanent dialogue with foreign institutional investors is a priority for us in promoting the investment opportunities and constantly improving ourselves to best standards,' Lucian Anghel, Chairman of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

***

The Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) is the biggest exchange in Central and Eastern Europe and organises trade on one of Europe's fastest growing capital markets. GPW operates a regulated equities and derivatives market, as well as NewConnect, an alternative trading platform for growing companies. GPW is also developing Catalyst, a market for corporate and municipal bond issuers. The Polish Power Exchange (TGE), a member of the GPW Group since February 2012, offers trade in electricity, natural gas, property rights and guarantees of origin and CO2 emission allowances. Since 9 November 2010, GPW is a publicly traded company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. For more information, visit www.gpw.pl/en-home

The Prague Stock Exchange (PSE) is the largest and oldest organizer of the securities market in the Czech Republic, and together with its subsidiaries, the Central Securities Depository (100%) and Power Exchange Central Europe (33.33%), it forms the PX Group. The Prague Stock Exchange is a subsidiary of CEESEG AG. More information on www.pse.cz

At Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) we are connecting companies with institutional and retail investors by providing financing and investment opportunities. BVB is building a competitive capital market in Central-Eastern Europe. BVB will continue to offer its support to the successful closing of public offers of state-owned companies, list new private companies and increase the number of active investors. Our key objectives are to transpose international best practices into the local market and to upgrade Romania to Emerging Markets status. In September 2016 the Romanian capital market was placed onto the watchlist of countries that have substantial potential to be upgraded to the Emerging Markets status by FTSE Russel. In Romania's case the upgrade will depend on the progress the market makes in regard to market liquidity and the presence in the market of large companies with significant individual liquidity. More on BVB at www.bvb.ro