News Parkiet

Oil

Oil soars above $70 a barrel

Oil prices surged to a record $70 a barrel yesterday as hurricane Katrina threatened offshore oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico, shutting down oil and gas production there. Rising commodity threaten global GNP growth, driving up inflation levels worldwide, economists said. Meanwhile, several Polish plastics and chemicals manufacturers warned they can no longer shift the cost of higher oil prices on their customers. At least one analyst surveyed by PARKIET says rising oil prices will narrow processing margins of Poland's two main oil refineries.

The economy

GNP grew 2.8 pct. in second quarter

Polish economy grew at a faster rate in the second quarter despite disappointing investments, Central Statistical Office (GUS) said in a report released yesterday. GNP growth picked up to an annual 2.8 percent, GUS said. Economists surveyed by PARKIET expected GNP to grow at an average rate of 2.7 percent. Consumer demand fell below expectations, at just 1.5 percent, while investments totaled just 2.6 percent, well below most estimates.

Economists now say 2Q GNP figures make another interest rate cut more likely at the MPC's next two-day meeting that starts today.

Building materials

Barlinek to triple profits by 2007

Flooring manufacturer Barlinek SA said it expects a three-fold increase in profits in three years' time as it boosts output using money from next month's IPO. One of key holdings of Polish investor Michał Sołowow, Barlinek plans to increase profits to PLN 85 million in 2007 from this year's PLN 33 million. Revenues will go up from 309 million to over 550 million zloty, company officials said. By mid-2006 Barlinek plans to increase production of parquet flooring to 6 million square meters a year, Barlinek said.

Wine industry

Ambra beats expectations

Wine bottler Ambra reported a profit of more than 15.5 million zloty in fiscal 2004/2005, some 3.4 percent more than its previous estimates and as much as 49 percent more than last year's earnings. Ambra said its sales were lower by some 153 million zloty to PLN 370 million after the company decided to discontinue selling flavored vodkas made by Polmos Lublin. The company completed three small acquisitions in recent months, buying an 80 percent stake in Czech winery Vinarsvi Zajeci and smaller stakes in two Polish wine distributors.

Privatization

Parliament clears PGNiG stock sale

Treasury Commission of the Polish parliament rejected a motion by its chairman, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, a senior member of Law and Order opposition group to stop privatization of the country's biggest natural gas firm, state-owned PGNiG. The IPO, worth an estimated 1.5 billion zloty starts Thursday, as scheduled.