News Parkiet

Telecommunications

Centertel to start using Orange brand

Telekomunikacja Polska's mobile arm PTK Centertel said it has agreed to pay as much as 1.6 percent of its revenues for the right to use 'Orange' mobile phone brand. Most analysts criticized the move because of the cost of rebranding and brand licensing expenses.

Shares of TP on the Warsaw Stock Exchange fell 3.3 percent on the news.

The economy

Industrial production fell 3.7 pct. in March

Industrial production fell 3.7 percent year on year in March, Polish Main Office of Statistics said yesterday. Tuesday's data marked the first decline in industrial output in more than two years.

Personal finance

Luxembourg-based fund to raise money in Poland

Luxembourg-based World Investment Opportunities Fund said it would begin selling euro- and dollar-denominated funds to Polish investors through independent mortgage broker Expander. Four other investment funds, including those of Citigroup and Merrill Lynch have already begun raising money for their mutual funds here.

Banking

Kredyt Bank, BPS to share ATM networks

Kredyt Bank and cooperative banking group Bank Polskiej Spółdzielczości said they will no longer charge their clients with ATM fees, extending the accessibility of their networks. Kredyt Bank and BPS now have over 300 and 400 Automatic Teller Machines respectively.

Information Technology

Prokom cuts spending

Poland's no. 1 IT provider, Gdynia-based Prokom Software, said it plans to limit this year's spending by a third compared with 2004. Prokom, which is controlled by Polish businessman Ryszard Krauze spent some 96 million zloty last year, including 33 million zloty it paid for stakes in other IT firms.

Monetary policy

Euro adoption in 2009 possible, Gomułka says

Poland could move towards adopting the euro in 2009, London School of Economics lecturer Stanisław Gomułka says. The move would add at least one percentage point to the country's GDP growth rate, Gomułka said. He warned against delays if Poles back populist parties in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Insurance

Insurers to pay record dividends

Polish insurance firms will pay at least 2.08 billion zloty in dividends, an all-time record, from last year's profits, a survey shows. Last year's dividend payouts totaled less than 800 million zloty ($250 million).