The beginning of the session on the WSE was similar for Orlen as for the main indices: first, the quotations fell slightly, and around noon they oscillated around yesterday's closing. However, while the entire market was gaining strength every hour and around 15.30 the WIG20 and WIG indices increased by 1%, respectively. and 1.15 percent, Orlen's share prices dropped.
An hour and a half before the end of Friday's session, the shares of the multi-energy company fell by 4.5%. and one piece cost PLN 123.6. This is a reaction to changes in the price of crude oil on global markets: WTI crude oil, which initially fell only slightly on Friday and the price fluctuated around USD 93.5. per barrel, in the afternoon it temporarily dropped by almost 12 percent, to $83. This is the lowest level since the first decade of March, when the price of this commodity increased as a result of the US and Israeli attack on Iran.
Orlen is one of the strongest WIG20 companies this year, but today's session shows something that has been visible for a month and a half, i.e. the discrepancy in the quotations of this company and the others. When oil prices rose, Orlen gained. Other companies usually lost because investors were afraid of the escalation of the conflict and their appetite for risk decreased.
Although the current Orlen share price is the lowest since March 11, the rate of return calculated since the beginning of this year is impressive and amounts to 28.5%. For comparison, WIG20 gained “only” 15.8 percent during this time. This makes the concern from Płock the strongest company among Polish blue chips this year.
Let us remind you that recently (on April 7 to be precise) Orlen broke a new all-time record (currently the price is 10% lower). Or actually two at the same time. The first one was a record valuation of PLN 136.88 per share (intraday), which meant PLN 158.7 billion of capitalization. And this is the second record – Orlen was then the most valuable Polish company on the WSE, not only now, but also in history.
After today's declines, Orlen's capitalization is PLN 143.4 billion. Currently, PKO BP is second with a valuation of PLN 127.4 billion (today, the largest Polish bank set its record in this respect, a few days ago the price exceeded PLN 100 per share for the first time, today it is PLN 102.5).
It is worth remembering that the highest valuation on the WSE is held by foreign companies listed here on a dual-listing basis. The Italian UniCredit is valued at PLN 455 billion, and the Spanish Santander at PLN 680 billion.
