News Parkiet

Management

CEO departure reached record levels in 2004, study shows

Dismissals and other forced departures of chief executive officers working for the world?s 2500 biggest publicly traded corporations reached record levels last year, Booz Allen Hamilton said in a study released yesterday. One CEO in seven lost his job in 2004 as investors and stock market regulators forced the removal of underperforming managers.

Venture capital

Innova Capital buys brake

pad manufacturer

Venture capital fund Innova Capital has agreed to buy all outstanding shares of the privately held, Wrocław-based brake pad component manufacturer EBCC from France?s Valfond Groupe. The amount it paid for EBCC, a company with annual sales of 124 million zloty last year and a 24 percent share of the European market, has not been disclosed. Innova, which now holds stakes in over twenty companies, says it plans to invest another 30 million euros in Central and Eastern Europe this year.

Retailing

Eldorado reports lower earnings

Regional grocery retailer Eldorado SA says it expects higher earnings after reporting disappointing first-quarter profits because of additional investments and upgrades. Eldorado, which operates 46 ?Stokrotka? brand supermarkets and supplies 390 ?Groszek? corner stores runs by franchise owners in south-eastern Poland, said its earnings were halved by spending on new scanning system and the cost of opening three new supermarkets. Its sales were up almost 20 percent to PLN 304 million, while earnings dropped to just 1.7 million zloty from PLN 3.5 million a year ago.

Manufacturing

Lubawa hit by profit margin fears

Shares of military supplier Lubawa SA dropped as much as 21 percent this week on lower than expected first-quarter earnings and worries that the company may be forced to cut margins on army contracts. Earlier this month another army contractor, LZPS Protektor lost almost half its value after announcing it had to cut margins on a three-year contract with army procurement agency.