News Parkiet

Privatization

Enough stalling, Eureko says

Eureko insurance group expects Polish government to make good on its promises and privatize the country's biggest insurer, Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeniowy in an IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange as soon as possible, vice CEO Ernst Jansen told PARKIET in an interview. Eureko, which now owns just over 30 percent of PZU, wants to buy 21 percent of the firm as part of the offering, as promised in a privatization agreement signed with Polish authorities four years ago.

Debt markets

UBS bonds cleared for trading in Poland

The SEC gave its go-ahead to a plan to list bonds issued by Switzerland's UBS AG in Poland, either on the Warsaw Stock Exchange or on MTS-CeTO over-the-counter market. New debt instruments will be addressed mainly to retail investors. UBS bonds will be sold through CDM Pekao brokerage.

Telecommunications

Telekomunikacja Polska posts 4Q profit

Telekomunikacja Polska, Poland's biggest phone company, reported a strong fourth-quarter profit as it boosted income from mobile services.

Net income at France Telecom unit totaled 533 million zloty, or 170.4 million dollars compared with a small loss a year ago, the company said in a statement. Telekomunikacja, which is 47.5 percent owned by FT, said its sales according to International Accounting Standards fell 0.5 percent to 4.7 billion zloty. Revenues at its fixed-line unit dropped to PLN 3.2 billion from PLN 3.5 billion in 4Q 2003. Sales at mobile unit PTK Centertel, in which France Telecom has a direct 34 percent stake, rose 19 percent to PLN 1.5 billion. Centertel, better known by its 'Idea' brand name, reported sales of 5.64 billion for all of 2004.

Telecommunications

MNI tops sales estimates

MNI telecommunications and multimedia group reported fiscal 2004 profits of 5.3 million zloty, or 6 percent higher than its original earnings guidance. The company, formerly known as Szeptel SA posted sales of 36 million zloty, over a third of that from mobile phone-related multimedia services for the year. MNI said earlier it expects to generate sales of PLN 29 million.

It now says it plans to buy assets of Legion Polska, a premium rate phone services company offering multimedia services.

Taxes

Capital gains tax collection lower despite

PKO BP

Polish government received 980 million zloty in capital gains taxes last year, less than PLN 1170 million it collected in 2003, Finance Ministry said.

Mutual fund withdrawals before the initial public offering of PKO BP last November and the sale of PKO BP's shares held in special privatization accounts generated about a quarter of last year's intake.

Capital gains tax, more commonly known as 'Belka's tax' after prime minister Marek Belka who pushed through new tax during his term as the country's finance minister two and half years ago, doesn't include tax on stock market gains in 2004 that will be levied this year.

Banking

Raiffeisen unlikely to list in Warsaw

Austria's Raiffeisen Bank is unlikely to go ahead with previous plans for a dual listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, senior official said at a news conference yesterday. Raiffeisen, which has a rapidly growing business in Poland, mentioned the possibility of a Polish IPO in late 2003.

Banking

SEB no longer in talks to raise its stake

in Polish bank

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken has had enough and is no longer talking with government-owned NFOŚiGW ecological fund to add to its stake in Bank Ochrony Środowiska, a mid-sized Polish lender that specializes in environmental projects. SEB and BOŚ co-founder own 47 percent and 44.7 percent of BOŚ respectively and neither wants to sell its stake to the other. Instead, SEB is on a lookout for potential acquisitions in Poland, vice CEO Mats Kjaer said on Thursday. It is also interested in local life insuIn addition to BOŚ, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken owns SEB TFI mutual fund company, which has 5 percent market share.