News Parkiet

Civil engineering

Budimex expands home-building division

Poland?s biggest construction and civil engineering group Budimex SA plans to spend as much as 200 million zloty ($58.8 million) along with another subsidiary of Spain?s Grupo Ferrovial to expand its residential real estate development unit. Chief executive Marek Michałowski says Budimex, which is 59-percent owned by Ferrovial, expects 20 percent top-line growth this year. The group reported sales of some 2.14 billion zloty in 2004. Earnings won?t be as good, Michałowski said, because of razor-thin margins on some construction projects. Budimex Nieruchomości Inwestycje, a new homebuilding unit set up together with Ferrovial Inmobiliaria is expected to generate much higher profit margins, Michałowski said. He expects the new company to report 400 million zloty in revenues several years from now, up from an estimated 150 million zloty this year. Michałowski is expecting BNI to become Poland?s no. 3 residential property developer within three years, right after Dom Development and J.W. Construction. BNI plans to build about 2000 apartment units next year, Michałowski said.

Civil engineering

Hydrobudowa executives detained by police

Chief executive of Hydrobudowa Śląsk, a small Silesia-based construction company that specializes in building sewage and waste treatment plants was detained by Polish police along with two other senior managers and Hydrobudowa?s chairman Wednesday morning, the company said in a statement for the stock exchange. Katowice DA says Hydrobudowa?s managers have signed an illegal, 2-million zloty contract with a consulting company, although officials at Hydrobudowa say the charges are groundless.

Shares of Hydrobudowa plunged 12.6 percent to 52.9 zloty on the news.

Equity markets

WSE to extend trading session

Warsaw Stock Exchange officials say the bourse has already decided to extend the trading sessions by 40 minutes. The opening will be moved up to 9:30 AM from 10 AM, with the closing bell at 4:30 PM instead of 4:20.

Chemicals

Police reiterates 2005 guidance

Fertilizer plant Zakłady Chemiczne Police has no plans to lower its 99.5 million zloty earnings target despite higher natural gas prices. Natural gas accounts for 30 percent of the plant?s raw material expenses.

Telecommunications

Spray plunges on IPO

Rights to shares of tiny Warsaw cable TV operator Spray SA fell as much as 6.17 percent to close at 7.6 zloty yesterday, 50 grosze below their IPO price of 8.1 zloty a share. The company, which has several thousand subscribers in various parts of the Polish capital sold just over 780.000 shares of the 1 million shares offered, raising an estimated 6.3 million zloty. Spray initially planned to sell shares worth up to 10 million zloty. Most of IPO proceeds will be used to buy even smaller cable TV companies, Spray said.