Warsaw IPO Market Enjoys Flurry of Activity Going Into Year-End

(Bloomberg) --

Initial public offerings are winding down in most of Europe, but Warsaw is jolted by a late burst of share sales as its economy rebounds from the pandemic.

Sports-betting company STS Holding SA said Wednesday it plans to list, set to add to Poland’s $1.8 billion IPO haul this year. Earlier this week, online recruiter Grupa Pracuj and home builder Murapol SA also laid out plans to go public. 

These IPO hopefuls are looking to cash in on post-lockdown recoveries, as well as this year’s nearly 20% rally for Poland’s WIG20 Index. In November, the central bank said this year’s fiscal deficit should be smaller than expected thanks to an economic rebound and the phasing out of pandemic state support.

STS, which has a near 50% market share in Poland, has benefited from the return of sports events after lockdowns. It reported earnings for the first nine months of this year that topped pre-pandemic levels.

Sports Betting Group Says It May Join Warsaw’s Big Year for IPOs

And Grupa Pracuj, which operates online job boards in Poland and Ukraine, has also wiped out the damage to its business from the pandemic, with its earnings for the first nine months of 2021 coming in higher than the full-year figures for 2019.

The situation for Murapol is murkier. While Poland’s second-biggest housebuilder is coming to market after record sales of new apartments, the country’s larger-than-expected interest-rate hike this month could dent demand for new mortgages.

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