"The ongoing rise of the stock exchange ... stands as a sound argument for other companies to float their stocks on the public markets," said Jan Procházka, an analyst at Cyrrus. "The first wave of IPOs should occur this year."

One year after buying out minority shareholders and removing Česká pojišťovna from public markets, financial group PPF, which owns a controlling stake in the company, is thinking about putting the insurer back on the PSE, Hospodářské noviny reported April 21.

"It is one of the possibilities that have been considered in connection with [PPF's planned] expansion," PPF CFO Kamil Ziegler said.

Following a successful entrance into Russia last year, the largest Czech financial group, owned by Petr Kellner, is looking to expand farther east, to Ukraine, Vietnam and China. As a result, the company is looking to raise money.

Česká pojišťovna was estimated to be worth around 63.5 billion Kč [$2.75 billion] last year.

PPF appears to be trying to make Česká pojišťovna more transparent to investors by shedding some of the companies under its ownership. Leasing company Home Credit should soon separate from the insurer, and PPF is reportedly locked in negotiations with five investors over the sale of online bank eBanka, which also belongs to Česká pojišťovna.

PPF has declined to comment on the timing of the IPO, but analysts say investor interest in the PSE is huge and now is the right time to make a stock offering.

"Today, there is an enormous demand for new stock," said PSE Chairman Petr Koblic.

Despite the sharp rise of the PSE last year, a large company — the size of electricity giant ČEZ or oil and petrochemical group Unipetrol — hasn't made an IPO since pharmaceutical giant Zentiva in 2004. Last year, U.S. media company Central European Media Enterprises and Luxembourg-based developer Orco made dual listings on the PSE, which is different than an IPO because they weren't offering their shares on a stock exchange for the first time.

This year the PSE could see as many as three large IPOs. Apart from Česká pojišťovna, other contenders are mining company OKD, which has nearly 20,000 employees, and computer company BGS Levi Group.

The success of an IPO often depends largely on how the company sells the story behind the stock float, said Procházka.