News Parkiet

Real estate

Echo?s numbers fudged auditor says

Publicly traded property developer Echo Investment reported earnings that were more than 100 million zloty ($30 million) lower than actual figures because it insisted on improper valuation methods for embedded derivatives it uses to protect itself against currency fluctuations, BDO Polska auditing firm wrote in company?s annual report. Instead, Echo, a 927-million zloty shopping mall operator controlled by Polish businessman Michał Sołowow, posted profits of just 34.7 million zloty. The company defends its accounting methods but says it won?t use them again because it shifted to International Accounting Standards this year.

Banking

BFG?s earnings shrink to PLN 151.6 million

Net earnings of Banking Guarantee Fund (BFG) fell about 4 percent last year, Polish government said in a report. Set up in mid-1990s to help keep afloat failing banks and bail out their depositors, BFG has lowered interest charged on loans given to cash-strapped lenders. Earlier this year BFG lent about 450 million zloty to Getin Bank charging annual interest of just over 3 million zloty. At market rates Getin, which got the loan as a favor for saving Bank Przemysłowy, a nearly-bankrupt regional lender from Łódź, would be paying almost 25 million zloty a year.

Alcohol

Ambra buys Moravian winery

for PLN 4.1 million

Wine distributor said yesterday it has agreed to pay an equivalent of 4.1 million zloty for an 80 percent stake in Czech Republic-based winery Vinarstvi Zajeci. Ambra itself is going public next month in an IPO on the Warsaw bourse.

Insurance

Skandia reports first-ever profit

Skandia Życie life insurer posted its first ever profit six years after it was founded by Sweden?s Skandia group. The company reported a profit of 1.93 million zloty despite lower premiums.

Skandia?s Bogusław Skuza said his company estimated it would take up to seven years to break even. His firm is expecting premiums of about 200 million zloty this year.