News Parkiet

Civil engineering

PBG to buy another Hydrobudowa

Pipeline builder PBG said it has agreed to buy a controlling stake in publicly traded Hydrobudowa Śląsk, a regional company that specializes in environmental projects and waste-treatment plants. PBG says it plans to sell at least 90 million zloty worth of new shares raising money for acquisitions.

Mutual funds

SEC may scuttle GTFI takeover

Polish Securities and Exchanges Commission may halt planned purchase of GTFI mutual fund group by I Fundusz Mistral, a private equity fund. Sources close to the situation say the SEC is suspicious about Mistral?s finances.

Information technology

Softbank?s earnings surprise

Banking industry IT services provider Softbank S.A. reported a four-fold increase in 3Q earnings, exceeding analyst expectations by a wide margin. The company, part of Prokom Software IT group controlled by Polish businessman Ryszard Krauze, said its earnings in the three months to October totaled as much as 13.6 million zloty versus PLN 3.3 million last year. That?s about 60 percent more than consensus estimates of analysts who follow the stock. Revenues were up about 8 percent to approximately 102 million zloty.

Shares of Softbank on the WSE rose 0.56 percent to close at 35.7 zloty on Friday.

Public finances

Marcinkiewicz unveils cost-cutting plan

Poland?s new prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz announced the formation of a new interdepartamental team of senior bureaucrats who are supposed to oversee an ambitious cost-cutting program. The new project, called ?Cheap Government? is supposed to generate annual savings of up to 5 billion zloty. Marcinkiewicz said he plans to slash as many as 10 to 15 percent of the 100 000 jobs in central administration.