Sinking on the bourse

Arcus, a company specializing in providing integrated systems for managing documents and mass correspondence, became the fifth debutant in a row to have its shares finish their opening day on the WSE below the issue price. Arcus' shares opened at zł.14.2 per share - 16.5-percent lower than the issue price of zł.17. By the end of the first day of trading the price fell even further, sliding to zł.13.75, which represented a fall of more than 19 percent from the issue price. At the end of the week, Arcus' stock price stood at zł.13.

WSE president Ludwik Sobolewski blamed the poor debut on the current market situation. "The last few weeks have proven that our market is very sensitive to bad news from across the ocean," he said.

BM Bank BPH analyst Jacek Buczyński points out that smaller firms are more likely to lose out during the unfavorable market situation. "In these moments investors tend to invest in larger companies, which they see as more stable and safer," he explained. He doesn't agree with the theory that too many smaller enterprises are debuting on the WSE though. "Previously the demand for medium-sized firms was driving the WSE's growth," Buczyński pointed out.

Arcus took almost zł.40 million from the debut. The money will be spent on acquisitions and stimulating organic growth. According to the company's main shareholder, Marek Czeredys, the firm is in talks with selected companies and may announce an acquisition this year.

Arcus president Witold Czyżewski hopes that acquisitions will help Arcus' revenue grow by as much as 50 percent by the end of 2008. This year the firm wants its revenue to reach zł.104 million and profits zł.7.5 million.