PKO Bank Polski SA maintains regular contact with investors and financial market analysts. As part of its relations with the market, representatives of the Bank provide answers to the questions of investors and analysts concerning the Bank’s operations in a broad sense, its financial results and the situation in the banking sector. Additionally, the Bank allows various forms of contact preferred by the investors and analysts.
Key objectives of investor relations
In 2017, the Bank’s investor relation activities focused on the following areas:
- strengthening the positive image of PKO Bank Polski SA as a reliable and transparent company among existing and potential investors, financial market analysts and rating agencies, through the use of various market communication tools;
- providing exhaustive information on the Bank’s financial results and activities, including changes in the market environment, in order to allow a reliable assessment of the Bank’s current situation and perspectives, as well as the correct valuation of its shares;
- fulfilling the information duties of the Company as an issuer of securities, as required by the law;
- arranging the General Meetings of Shareholders and providing information to the Bank’s shareholders;
- ensuring the Bank’s cooperation with responsible governmental bodies, organizations and capital market institutions in connection with the Bank’s presence on the public securities market;
- coordination of work and preparation of the statement on non-financial information.
Activities in 2017
In 2017, as part of market communication:
- after the end of each quarter, the financial results of the Bank and the Bank’s Group were presented by the Bank’s Management Board in meetings with investors and capital market and debt securities analysts, held at the Bank’s registered office, and via teleconferences, in each case with the participation of about 60 analysts and investor representatives in total;
- Members of the Management Board and key managers participated in regular meetings (and teleconferences) with investors and analysts, both at the Bank’s registered office and during investor conferences. In 2017, about 60 meetings at the Bank’s registered office and about 100 teleconferences were held. Additionally, Members of the Bank’s Management Board answered the investors’ questions during investor conferences held both in Poland and abroad. In 2017, in total, approximately 140 meetings were held during 18 investor conferences arranged in: Austria (1 conference), Czech Republic (1 conference), Germany (2 conferences), Poland (3 conferences for institutional investors and 1 conference for individual investors), United States (5 conferences) and the UK (5 conferences). In addition to meetings at investor conferences, Members of the Bank’s Management Board talked to investors during 3 roadshows, involving in total in 25 meetings with investors in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States and the UK;
- the Investor Relations Office maintained on-going contacts with analysts as well as institutional and individual investors, by answering numerous telephone or email inquiries pertaining to business operations and the financial performance of PKO Bank Polski SA;
- all information of significant importance to the Bank’s investors and shareholders was immediately published on the Investor Relations website at www.pkobp.pl/inwestorzy (www.pkobp.pl/investors);
- in 2016, the Bank again made available its online annual report in the form of a dedicated website in two language versions: Polish and English (www.raportroczny2016.pkobp.pl). The annual report published in the form of a separate website facilitates finding key financial and business information on the PKO Bank Polski SA Capital Group.
Increased standards of corporate governance
The entities from the Group are subordinated to standard audit procedures. In addition, similar to the Bank, they accepted other, higher standards of corporate governance.
The Bank builds relationships with the market on the basis of mutual trust, transparency and equal treatment of shareholders. Therefore, the Bank accepted Good Practices of WSE Listed Companies 2016 (apart from the principle of holding electronic general meetings because of the technical and legal risk). In implementing the principles, it aimed to satisfy the recommendations and principles set out in the table of good practices as far as possible with regard to relationships and communication with shareholders and investors, general meetings, Management Board and Supervisory Board, as well as conflicts of interest and salaries. The Bank monitors the scope of observance of the principles and reports on (incidental) breaches. In accordance with the internal regulation, the Bank’s units are required to monitor and inform the designated organizational section of a threat of non-compliance with or a breach of a principle at a time that enables the publication of a possible report on this matter. Under the internal regulations, the Bank has a system of regular monitoring and annual reviews of the application of the recommendations and principles of Good Practices.
In the last three years, the Bank only once breached one of these principles. This applied to a case of specifying a conditional dividend payment date, about which it immediately informed the market participants.
In addition, both the Bank and the Group’s companies which are subject to the supervision of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (PFSA) adopted the “Principles of corporate governance for supervised institutions” issued by this supervisory authority, with a few exceptions.
The Bank presents the results of the assessment of the application of the principles at the Bank’s Annual General Meetings.
Information policy
In view of the Group’s ownership structure, in which 14 entities are direct subsidiaries (including 12 in which the Bank has a 100% stake), the companies report to the Bank as a parent entity within the limits of the applicable laws.
In order to maintain correct relations with all shareholders the Bank, whose shareholders are largely fragmented, has adopted principles of an information policy. According to its provisions, the Bank’s overriding aim regarding the performance of information activities is to guarantee high standards of communication with the participants of the capital market, which are a sign of respect for the principles of universal and equal access to information. Within the context of the information policy, the Bank takes into account the interests of all the investors, provided that they are not in conflict with the Bank’s interests, while the objective of the information policy is to define the mechanisms
of communicating with the participants of the capital market to ensure appropriate, fair and complete access to information about the Bank for all investors by not applying preferences with respect to any of them.
The transparency and effectiveness of the Bank’s information policy are confirmed by numerous awards and distinctions regarding the broadly-understood corporate governance and investor relations:
- according to the latest “Survey of Satisfaction of Analysts with their cooperation with PKO Bank Polski” by Partner in Business Strategies which was conducted in 2016 on contract to the Bank, the analysts appreciate very highly the cooperation with the Bank. 94% of respondents gave positive assessments. The top rated elements of the cooperation is the substantive value of the presentations for analysts and investors –
88% of positive indications and the substantive competence of the employees contacting the analysts – 82%. - in 2017, the Bank received an award granted by the Institute of Accounting and Taxation and Gazeta Giełdy Parkiet in the category of Transparent Company of the year 2016 from the WIG 20 index.
- in 2017, the Bank took first place in the category of The best investor relations according to individual investors in 2016 (organizers of the survey: Gazeta Giełdy Parkiet and Chamber Brokerage Houses).