It was a historical debut – on Thursday June 25, for the first time, rights to shares of Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka were listed on the trading floor of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. On that day, any shareholder which purchased shares for PLN 48 in the public offering was able to earn an approx. 18% return on its investment. On the first day of quotations, Bogdanka’s share price rose to PLN 57.95 and trading exceeded PLN 380 million. Everyone present on Thursday in the dealing room of the WSE at ul. Książęca in Warsaw agreed that it was a historical debut and a historical achievement.

The Minister of the State Treasury, Aleksander Grad asked the rhetorical question: “Could there be a better day for the Treasury Minister?” and then listed the records that Bogdanka had achieved with its debut: “This is a very successful public offering and debut. At last Bogdanka is listed on the WSE. This is the first time in history that a Polish coal mine has been listed on the WSE and the first time a miners’ orchestra has played in the stock exchange building. Bogdanka is also the fourth largest State Treasury company in terms of market capitalisation to be floated on the WSE”.

“Bogdanka is not just “LW”, but a real “LEW” (the LION). I am delighted that the management board of a coal company will receive a “stock exchange bull” statuette to confirm its status as a listed company” – said Ludwik Sobolewski, the President of the WSE, adding – “We welcome the representatives of this marvellous company to the Warsaw trading floor. I am convinced that this debut will help the WSE to maintain its position as the leader of debuts on a European scale.”

More than 150 guests – representatives of the State Treasury, the stock exchange, finances, the company’s business partners and the media – took part in the ceremony. In keeping with a stock exchange tradition going back eighteen years, the minister and the management of Bogdanka and the WSE together hit the stock closing bell.

“I didn't expect this. During the week, the analysts had very different opinions, including some very pessimistic forecasts that the increase would amount to 1-2%. I thought that after such large reductions of subscriptions it would be 8-12%, but I never expected 15-16%, which goes to show that investors hold the company in high esteem, as demonstrated by the level of trading, which exceeded PLN 200 million right at the beginning of the session,” said Mirosław Taras, the President of Bogdanka’s Management Board in an interview for Rzeczpospolita shortly after the commencement of quotations. “Although the coal industry is generally perceived in a negative light, the strong foundations of our company and its fantastic investment programme, which will bring many benefits in the future, have convinced everyone that Bogdanka is one of the jewels of the Polish economy,” he added.

LW Bogdanka’s debut was the fourth largest State Treasury offering in terms of market capitalisation in the history of the WSE. The company obtained PLN 528 million from the offering, which will be used to construct new and modernise existing technical infrastructure in the Stefanów field, which will allow coal production to be doubled starting from 2014.

For more photographs from the debut, go to “Bogdanka Listed on the Stock Exchange!” in the news section.