KONDYCJA FINANSOWA „FIRM ZOMBIE” NOTOWANYCH NA GPW W WARSZAWIE
FINANCIAL CONDITION OF ‘ZOMBIE COMPANIES’ LISTED ON THE WARSAW STOCK EXCHANGE

Summary/Abstract: The article raises the problem of the incidence of so-called zombie companies in the economy.Zombie companies are most often defined as unprofitable, indebted, financially troubled com-panies that often have negative equity. The purpose of this article is to present the financialcondition of zombie companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange stock market, as well as toshow the indications that threaten the continuation of business operations of zombie companies.The data from 2018–2021 is taken from the Notoria Serwis database, which refers to the annualfinancial statements of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The article uses litera-ture analysis and financial analysis as the main research methods. The research results showthat there are zombie companies with negative equity in the capital market in Poland, whoseshare among listed companies on the WSE stock market was 2.9–3.6% in 2018–2021. The mostnumerous group of zombie companies with negative equity were business entities included inthe category of small businesses. Zombie companies listed on the capital market in Poland weremainly characterized by problems with ensuring profitability and maintaining liquidity, and theiractivities were accompanied by a high risk of bankruptcy. The zombie companies were able tocontinue their operations mainly due to the financial surplus they generated, which allowed themto pay principal installments plus interest. The continuation of zombie companies was mainly in-fluenced by the continued low interest rates set by the monetary authorities in Poland 2018–2021,the government guarantees provided to businesses applying for bank loans, the subsidization ofunprofitable operations, and the state aid directed to companies operating under COVID-19.

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