News Parkiet

Banking

Western banks reaping profits from Polish

investments

Several international financial groups, led by Italy?s UniCredito and US-based Citigroup are starting to reap the dividends from their investments in Polish lenders. Including this year?s dividend from Pekao SA, UniCredito has already recovered nearly half of the 1.2 billion dollars it paid to gain 53 percent stake in its Polish subsidiary. The amount includes dividend from last year?s profits totaling 170 million dollars. UniCredito is trailed by Citi, which spent an estimated 1.5 billion dollars accumulating 75 percent stake in Bank Handlowy. This year alone Citibank will receive nearly 1.2 billion zloty when Handlowy pays an extra dividend from earnings accumulated over the years.

Banking

mBank to launch new brokerage service

BRE Bank?s retail unit, Poland?s no. 1 online lender mBank has finally received SEC clearance to start a brokerage service trading in stocks and bonds on the WSE. Retail arm of the Polish Commerzbank subsidiary plans to offer standard online trading fee schedule despite fears of future competitors. Some Polish stockbrokers worried that mBank?s entry into brokerage business could signal the beginning of another price war.

mBank has 883 000 current accounts, including 103 000 clients investing in mutual funds. A quick sample of mBank?s clients showed that about half have traded stocks before at one time or another.

Media

CR Media sees slower market growth

next year

Media monitoring group CR Media is expecting slower advertising market growth extending later this year and in 2006. The market expanded by 11.4 percent in the first half, driven by faster economic growth and low advertising rates, CR Media said. Spending on Internet advertising was up 43 percent year-on-year, CR Media said, tailed by TV advertising, which grew 12.4 percent.

Retailing

Maks Sport goes public

Sporting goods retailer Maks Sport plans to raise about 18 million zloty in an IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange later this year. Kraków-based firm said in an IPO filing it hasn?t set a final date for the offering of some 3 million new shares. Maks Sport, which now owns eight retail outlets in southern Poland and in Warsaw, plans to open at least seven new stores by the end of 2006.

Health care

EMC Instytut Medyczny

to raise PLN 12 million

Private hospital operator EMC Instytut Medyczny says it will try to sell 12 million zloty worth of new stock to raise money needed for upgrades of the three medical facilities it now owns. EMC, which has about 200 000 patients in Lower Silesia and in Opole province plans to spend as much as 5.1 million zloty on renovations of its most recent acquisition, a large hospital in Ząbkowice Śląskie. The company is expecting earnings of just 654 000 zloty on 26 million zloty in sales this year.