News Parkiet

Equity markets

Poles opening new brokerage accounts

to buy PGNiG

Polish brokerage houses are expecting at least several thousand new accounts as investors prepare for the privatization IPO of Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo, the country?s state-owned natural gas monopoly. Popular brokers like CDM Pekao and BM Banku BPH say they are getting more calls from people seeking information about account fees and margin loans. However, just 10 percent of those who open new accounts to buy shares of corporations privatized by the Polish government turn into active investors, CEO of one brokerage says.

Poles opened 80 000 new brokerage accounts before last year?s Initial Public Offering of the country?s biggest bank, PKO BP. PGNiG, which is not as well known among the general public, is expected to attract much lower interest, at a level similar to this year?s IPOs of Grupa Lotos Refinery and chemicals plant Police, when only a few thousand people decided to try their luck on the stock market.

Public debt

Poland saved millions paying

back Paris club debt

Polish government has saved hundreds of millions of zlotys by retiring some of the debts it owes to the Paris club, sources told PARKIET earlier this week. Since last year Poland has either repaid or secured forgiveness of nearly five billion euros worth of debts it owed to Paris club creditors.

The amount stood at 7.1 billion euros from 12.3 billion euros as recently as December 2004. Government officials are negotiating additional debt forgiveness with the remaining creditors, led by France, Austria and Canada. The three combined are owed some 5.3 billion euros.

Earlier this year Poland estimated the cost of servicing foreign debt would reach approximately 5.6 billion zloty, or 1.4 billion euros. Paris club debt accounts for nearly a third of the country?s external debt.

Equity markets

Stockbrokers to offer margin loans ahead

of PGNiG sale

Several stockbrokers say they plan to offer margin loans of up to twenty times the amount of investors? own equity to Poles who sign up to buy shares of Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG) in this year?s biggest privatization sale. Because of legal restrictions, retail investors in Poland must pay for the stock upfront, even when the offering is heavily oversubscribed and many take margin loans they never actually use.

PGNiG Initial Public Offering starts on September 1. Retail investors will be able to buy up to 200 000 shares each. The pricing range is yet to be announced, buy PGNiG officials said earlier they plan to raise at least 1.5 billion zloty selling 900 million new shares, suggesting that the stock will be priced at at least 1.67 zloty a share.

ING Securities, one of the biggest Polish brokerage houses warns that demand for PGNiG will be much lower if the stock is priced at more than 2 zloty a share.

Privatization

Nafta announces chemical industry

sale short-list

State-owned Nafta Polska privatization agency has announced its short list of potential bidders for the four major chemical plants put on sale earlier this year. The eight bidders include Poland?s Ciech chemicals trading group, German chemical company PCC, ZCH Organika Azot nitrogen plant, Anwil, a Polish company controlled by Orlen refinery, Norway?s Yara International and Malborskie Zakłady Chemiczne Organika chemical plant plus two private equity funds: Advent International and Polish Enterprise Fund V, which is controlled by Poland?s leading private equity firm Enterprise Investors.

Nafta said it would seek approximately 500 million zloty selling 80 percent stakes in ZA Kędzierzyn and ZA Tarnów-Mościce nitrogen plants and ZCh Organika-Sarzyna and ZCh Zachem chemical plants. All four except Zachem are profitable. Their six-month sales ranged from 268 million zloty in the case of Organika Sarzyna to well over 600 billionThe bidders are expected to pledge several times that amount in investments and upgrades of the four plants, senior Nafta official said. Polish antitrust authorities gave preliminary approvals to most bids, clearing all except joint bids for Zachem and Tarnów, major producers of sulfuric acid.

Media

ITI to sell minority stake in Grupa Onet

Media group ITI said yesterday it plans to sell up to a quarter of thinly traded Grupa Onet, the owner of Poland?s most popular Internet directory in an IPO early next year. The deal would improve Onet?s liquidity, boosting the free float to around 35-45 percent, ITI chief executive Wojciech Kostrzewa said. ITI now has approximately 80 percent of Grupa Onet.