Polish PM calls for answers as utility's rocketing shares start falling (updated)

Ecb SA

22/06/2023 12:56

(Adds comment from EC Bedzin, paragraphs 9, 10 and 14)
       WARSAW, June 22 (Reuters) - Poland's prime minister on
Thursday ordered regulators to investigate trading in the shares
of a small utility which saw a twelvefold increase in value this
month before falling sharply.
    Trading in shares of heat and electricity provider
Elektrocieplownia Bedzin  BDZ.WA  (EC Bedzin) was halted on the
Warsaw Stock Exchange on Thursday after they fell more than 35%
on the day. 
    Prior to this the stock had risen 1,200% between June 1 and
its Thursday peak, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. As of
Wednesday's close the utility had a market capitalisation of 222
million zlotys ($55.1 million). 
    "Due to doubts regarding the shares of EC Bedzin, I asked
the chairman of (financial regulator) KNF to prepare a report as
a matter of urgency, which will be the basis for further steps,"
Mateusz Morawiecki wrote in a Twitter post.
    KNF spokesperson Jacek Barszczewski said the regulator was
investigating the matter.
    "The behavior of EC Bedzin's shares, as in any case where
there are doubts about the possibility of using confidential
information or potential manipulation, is subject to a thorough
analysis by the KNF," he wrote in a Twitter post.
    The watchdog will use all its tools to investigate the
circumstances of the share price move, he added.
    EC Bedzin said in an emailed statement that it would
co-operate with the regulator.
    "Observing the highest ethical standards, legal regulations
and internal procedures, the company declares full cooperation
with all authorities aimed at clarifying doubts about trading in
the company's shares appearing in the media," it said.
    The crash in the share price on Thursday came after Orlen
Synthos Green Energy, a joint venture between Polish refiner PKN
Orlen  PKN.WA  and Synthos Green Energy that plans to deploy
small modular nuclear reactors in Poland, said it did not plan
to work with EC Bedzin.
    The utility said in a statement late on Wednesday that it
had signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Orlen Synthos
Green Energy concerning potential cooperation on the reactors. 
    Orlen Synthos Green Energy said that the non-disclosure
agreement had been signed at the request of EC Bedzin, which
wanted to show it a potential site.
    EC Bedzin said in its emailed statement that its press
release from Wednesday had clearly stated that the NDA "does not
oblige either party to implement the project or to conduct talks
in order to implement it".
    ($1 = 4.0290 zlotys)

 (Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Jan Harvey)
 ((alan.charlish@thomsonreuters.com;))