News Parkiet

Civil engineering

Former subsidiary claims back payments

from Mostostal

Delia SA says it will demand up to 25 million zloty in back payments from Mostostal Export civil engineering group that once controlled textiles and investment group. Delia's new managers have already asked DA to investigate suspicious business dealings of former senior executives who bought stakes in five manufacturing firms from Mostostal five years ago.

It says these assets were grossly overvalued, noting that three of those firms went under soon thereafter.

Mostostal Export long-time CEO Michał Skipetrow rejects Delia's charges. He claims former subsidiary has actually made money from the deal.

Chemicals

Ciech IPO twenty-two times oversubscribed

Last month's Initial Public Offering of Ciech SA chemicals trading group was 22 times oversubscribed by retail Polish investors, state-owned company said in a statement published yesterday. Equity analysts who follow the stock expected strong interest in Ciech because of relatively low IPO price of 24 zloty compared with previous estimates of around 28 zloty. Ciech, of Warsaw, sold a total of 11.5 million new and existing shares, raising 276 million zloty.

Former communist-era foreign trading company specializing in chemicals and the production of ash soda, Ciech also owns interests in over a dozen other firms.

Financial services

ING Groep to cut stake in Polish unit to 75 pct.

Dutch financial services company ING Groep plans to sell 12.7 percent stake of its Polish unit, Silesia-based ING Bank Śląski to outside investors by the end of March, bringing its stake to a 75 percent threshold to comply with local regulator. ING Bank Śląski, one of Poland's top retail banks, said it expects fourth-quarter earnings at least as good as 3Q figures, which totaled 82 million zloty (26.4 million)

Shares of ING BSK rose 2.6 percent to close at 397 zloty on the WSE yesterday.