News Parkiet

Equity markets

Blue-chip index hits new high

Blue-chip WIG20 index closed above the psychological threshold of 2000 points for the first time in five years yesterday after yet another buying spree by foreign investment funds. The index closed at 2021 points, up 2.39 percent in very heavy trading, led by Telekomikacja Polska phone company and PKN Orlen oil refinery. On the broader markets, however, almost half of the nearly 120 stocks listed as part of WIG index fell or stayed flat.

Alcoholic beverages

CEDC seeks Warsaw listing

US spirits and vodka wholesaler Central European Distribution Corporation announced plans to list its shares on the Warsaw bourse in the second half of the year yesterday as part of market expansion here. "We have not yet taken a final decision on the size and structure of the offer. We will have detailed information in three or four months, and believe the offering will take place

in the second half of the year," chief executive said.

Nasdaq-listed CEDC, the biggest vodka distributor

in Poland, said in a statement its 2005 net profit would rise to $27.2 million from a preliminary 2004 figure of

$21.9 million.

CEDC, which has invested 190 million zlotys ($62 million) in Poland, plans further expansion, including a purchase of the country?s leading vodka maker Polmos Bialystok, the owner of the popular Zubrowka (Bison Grass) brand.

Pension funds

Private pension firms posted profits,

KNUiFE says

All but two of the fifteen private pension management firms turned profits last year, market regulator KNUiFE said in a report yesterday. The firms, known by their polish acronym Powszechne Towarzystwa Emerytalne, earned a total of 384 million zloty. The biggest PTE, Aviva?s Commercial Union and PTE ING Nationale-Nederlanden, posted profits of around 120 million zloty each.