PLN 12.3 bln bonds issued on Catalyst market in 2017

Last year, there was PLN 12.3 billion worth of bonds issued on the WSE-controlled Catalyst market (148 percent increase). Furthermore, between end-2016-17 the market increased by some PLN 14 billion, according to a report compiled by the auditing and consulting company Grant Thornton under the patronage of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. “This is the best performance in history. In total, at the end of 2017, the value of non-treasury debt securities listed on Catalyst amounted to PLN 95.8 billion and increased by 50 percent over the last three years,” the report said. The growing popularity of Catalyst confirms not only the value but also the number of debt instruments. In 2017, the number of issued corporate bonds increased by 8.3 percent, covered bonds by 13.3 percent, and municipal bonds by a record 10.2 percent. Only in the case of cooperative bonds, similarly as in 2016, their number decreased (by 5.6 percent). Excluding Treasury bonds from the analysis, the number of all debt instruments listed on Catalyst at the end of 2017 was 567 series, i.e. it was higher by 43 series than in the previous year, the report added. “The corporate and local government bond market has ceased to be seen as a novelty in Poland, but it has become a natural, important element of the Polish business environment, although it is certainly not a risk-free market, it certainly is an interesting alternative for both investors and issuers,” said Paulina Zalewska-Wichrzycka, advisor at Grant Thornton.