By Chris Borowski
WARSAW, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The $4 billion share offerings by Poland's top bank and leading energy group are a key test of investor appetite for emerging Europe stocks and could foreshadow a spate of further listings in months to come.
The 5 billion zloty ($1.8 billion) rights issue by state controlled lender PKO BP and utility PGE's flotation worth up to 6 billion will be the first large offers since the global financial crisis.
Indices from Moscow to Istanbul have recovered much of the ground lost in the last year but have yet to digest any significant listings.
Fund managers say PKO and PGE offers are attractive enough to succeed because both are must-haves for investors focusing on Poland and eastern Europe.
"You need a strong reason not to hold such large companies in your portfolio," said Blazej Bogdziewicz, who manages some 1 billion euros in funds at BZ WBK AIB Asset Management.
"Many companies are waiting to see how well these go. Several larger and smaller IPOs (initial public offers) should follow in the coming months if this goes well."
The subscription for PKO shares ends on Tuesday, while PGE will set its final issue price early next week and is expected to debut early next month.
The PKO and PGE offers have gained in significance because of the government's need to plus its budget deficit during the slowdown and after Poland failed to reach a deal to sell its controlling stake in utility Enea, worth some $3 billion, to Germany's RWE.
Poland's treasury will only indirectly receive funds from the two sales, mainly through dividends. But their success would encourage the treasury to sell down its stake in PGE and float its holding in smaller rival Tauron.
The government also wants to bring the region's largest insurance group, PZU, to the bourse next year and several state-controlled companies may jointly sell their stakes in Poland's top mobile phone operator Polkomtel.
Each offer could be worth some $2 billion, analysts say.
"This is a crucial test for the Polish government," said one London-based fund manager. "If it stumbles for some reason, this could end up being bad news for the deficit. If it passes, share sales at other state firms will look more doable."
The spate of offers from state-linked companies will also be a shot in the arm for the Warsaw bourse, one of the few European bourses to attract initial public offerings this year.
For now, PGE will become one of the exchange's three largest Polish companies with a market capitalisation of as much as $14 billion, on par with the country's top lender PKO after its rights sale.
"PGE can pull some money away from the secondary market, but after the offer, engagement by foreign players should go up and help fuel gains towards the end of the year," said Miroslaw Dziolko, fund manager at Millennium TFI in Warsaw.
Underlying PGE's importance, Warsaw Stock Exchange Chief Executive would likely take the unusual step of adding the stock to its blue-chip WIG20 index as soon as December, about a month after it starts trading.
Warsaw's main index is trading at its highest levels in a year after gaining 75 percent since its February low, although it has lagged most other emerging markets in Europe, some of which have doubled in value in the same time. (Editing by David Cowell) ($1=2.783 Zloty)