The underlying reporting framework

Reporting concept

The GPW Group’s 2020 Annual Report is our third Integrated Report. The past year was exceptional for everyone due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like all business operators, including both public and private companies, the GPW Group has been affected by the pandemic. In this report, we want to show how our Group has changed in the past 12 months, and how our strategic activities:

• impact our stakeholders;
• improve the diversification of our business;
• support economic growth of Poland; and
• raise financial awareness of existing and prospective investors on the capital market.

Our Group continues to raise ESG awareness, in particular in three key areas:

• development of ESG competences within the GPW Group;
• supporting issuers and investors;
• product development.

This Annual Report of the Warsaw Stock Exchange Group has been prepared in accordance with the International Integrated Reporting Framework published by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). We have followed the Best Reporting Practice under the <IR> Framework published by GPW in partnership with SAPERE. In line with the IIRC Framework, we show how our strategy, corporate governance, financial results, and non-financial factors create value in the short, medium, and long term. This report is prepared in accordance with the <IR> Framework in its version of January 2021 (source: https://integratedreporting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/InternationalIntegratedReportingFramework.pdf). The GPW Group’s application of the IIRC integrated reporting framework provides the following benefits:

• improved quality of information available to investors for the sake of better efficiency and productivity of capital allocation;
• promoting a more consistent and efficient approach to corporate reporting, including different elements of reports and a full range of factors influencing companies’ ability to create value in time;
• more accountability and responsibility for a broad capital base and better understanding of their mutual dependencies;
• promoting integrated thinking, decision-making, and actions geared to creating value in the short, medium, and long term.

We have prepared the 2020 report with a view to a comprehensive presentation of the GPW Group’s position in order to address frequently asked questions of our stakeholders. As great fans of integrated reporting, we promote the concept among listed companies and strive to provide information that tells investors exactly who we are, how we create value, what is our potential and the directions of further development.

We are aware of the on-going evolution of integrated reporting and we are closely following both that evolution and the continuous development of the integrated reporting and non-financial reporting concept.

Reporting in the GPW Group is an annual process (the previous integrated report was published in June 2020). No major changes to the organisation, ownership, or the value chain affected our business model in 2020.

Objective of the report

The objective of the Integrated Annual Report of the GPW Group is to present a comprehensive picture of our organisation and its ability to create value for investors and other stakeholders. To address global trends in corporate reporting, as the biggest exchange in Central and Eastern Europe, we have decided to present our approach to comprehensive value creation on the capital market and the commodity market based on different forms of capital (financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social, and relationship capital).

We believe that by initiating the process of corporate reporting in accordance with the IIRC’s integrated approach, we can offer a better presentation of our financial and non-financial achievements and better pursue our mission as catalyst of the development of the Polish economy. We do hope that our report will help diverse groups of recipients to better understand the operation of the Group, our activities and strategic initiatives, while supporting our efforts geared to creation of long-term value in pursuit of our social mission.

Just like any exchange, we generate value in three key dimensions:

• for investors;
• for listed companies;
• for society.

We also maintain close relations with a broad group of external and internal stakeholders.

Structure of the report

The structure of this report, based on the concept of integrated thinking and reporting, reflects our understanding of the causal relationship in value creation:

• The section “Our Report” includes all the key technical elements concerning the preparation of the report, such as the guiding principles, materiality and stakeholder relationships, responsibility of the Management for the report, and a glossary of terms relating to our business,
• The section “Value Creation in the GPW Group” presents the structure of the group, the business model, the value creation process, the capitals, as well as the key financial and non-financial results;
• The section “Challenges for stock market operators”, introduced with a letter from the President of the Management Board, presents the Group’s external environment, identified opportunities and risks, as well as expectations for the nearest future (Outlook 2020+);
• The section “Strategy” outlines our mission, financial targets, strategic initiatives, and progress in the implementation of the strategy;
• The section “Results 2020” summarises our financial results, operating results, and GPW’s stock price on GPW;
• The section “Corporate Governance”, introduced with a letter of the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, presents the authorities of the Group, its remuneration policy, compliance approach, audit rights and obligations;
• The section “Social responsibility” presents the Group’s CSR strategy, the activity of the GPW Foundation, our dialogue with the community and the employees, as well as our environmental impact.

Scope of reporting, timeframe, relations with other Group publications

This integrated report extends beyond traditional financial reporting and includes key non-financial information, such as a description of risks, opportunities and the outlook, which affect our ability to create value.

This report presents the Group’s key activities, results, and strategic initiatives which will enhance shareholder value generation.

Unless stated otherwise, financial and non-financial information presented in the report relates to the period from 1 January to 31 December 2020.

This report in its key content is consistent with the following publications of the Group:

• Consolidated Financial Statements of the GPW Group for 2020
• Report of the Management Board on the activity of the GPW Group in 2020;
• the GPW Group Strategy and the GPW Group CSR Strategy.

Disclaimer: forward-looking information and estimates

This report, which was prepared according to the concept of integrated reporting, is forward-looking. Consequently, its content includes certain references to the Group’s future financial position, operating results, and activities. However, readers should consider the published expectations and estimates in the context of uncertainties and risks of their materialisation. There is a range of potential factors affecting the published estimates which may cause actual future results or development trends to differ from our current assessments and expectations. GPW publishes no official estimates of the Company’s or the Group’s financial results.