In recent days, questions have been raised loudly about the future of the state-controlled Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa. In the face of its major financial problems, there were warnings that if something did not change in the company, it would be at risk of insolvency.
Robert Kropiwnicki, Deputy Minister of State Assets, spoke about this on Wednesday. “I can reassure both the families and employees of JSW: we are doing everything, but restructuring is necessary. It is, too necessary wage reduction enough to save the company,” he said.
JSW shares skyrocketed
After such announcements, miners and others employed at JSW may have had very mixed feelings, but as the market reaction shows, investors hope the company will recover. Already on Wednesday, the price of JSW shares on the stock exchange increased by over 3%. However, they have been creating a sensation in recent hours, because at noon the increases reached about 10%. With such increases, the state-owned company was number one on the WSE.
On Thursday, the price of one JSW share even exceeded PLN 27. The last time they were at such a high level was in July, and earlier in March. In the meantime, valuations dropped even below PLN 20. With current quotations, the market value of JSW can be estimated at PLN 3.2 billion. There were times when the capitalization exceeded PLN 10 billion.
JSW has several problems
JSW suffers, among others, on the decline in coking coal prices. In 2022, a tonne cost PLN 1,510, in 2023 – PLN 1,124, and in 2024 – PLN 894.
“We have no influence on issues related to market conditions or exchange rates, but we do have influence on costs and we need to take a hard look at it. Despite the PST (Strategic Transformation Plan – editor's note) functioning in the organization, it is insufficient and we need to take care of it,” said Bogusław Oleksy, who currently serves as the president of JSW. This happened after the dismissal of president Ryszard Janta.
JSW is not cost competitive, has negative working capital, and this is one of the symptoms that something bad is starting to happen. The company's situation is very difficult, especially since she will soon run out of funds from FIZ, which constitute a financial reserve for difficult times.
According to the latest financial data Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa recorded a consolidated net loss of PLN 724.1 million in the second quarter of 2025. compared to a loss of almost PLN 6 billion a year earlier. On the other hand in the entire first half of the year it was below the mark of PLN 2 billion 87.6 million.
