News Parkiet

Equity markets

Sanok shareholders pay dearly

for stock option scheme

Net earnings of Stomil Sanok rubber goods maker may be diluted by as much as 6.9 million zloty in each of the three years to 2006 because of extremely generous executive stock option scheme. Sanok, a southern Poland-based firm, promised to give away 60 million zloty worth of shares to fourteen top managers as part of a stock option program that begun last year. Each will have the right to buy shares at just 2 zloty each, a massive discount from yesterday?s closing price of 138 zloty.

Metal industry

Śrubex shareholders line up to sell their stock

Most shareholders of Śrubex SA, Central Europe?s biggest manufacturer of metal fasteners may sell the stock during or soon after the IPO early next month. The company wants to sell 500.000 new shares in addition to more than half a million existing shares on sale by the government and by three CA IB group privatization funds. Other potential sellers include Śrubex workers, who own about 6 percent, NFI Jupiter privatization fund and Cyprus-registered Pedersen group. If the IPO is successful, some 70 percent of Śrubex? equity may end up as free float traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Information Technology

ComputerLand expands GIS unit

Poland?s no. 1 information technology group ComputerLand SA added to its equity stake in KPG SA, one of the country?s biggest land surveying firms, raising its total share in Kraków-based company to 52 percent.

ComputerLand begun its expansion on Poland?s one-billion zloty market for Geographic Information System services last year, buying a stake in Geomar, another niche software house. Its biggest client, national phone company Telekomunikacja Polska paid 66 million zloty for custom-made GIS solution called Geomarketing.pl.

Wood industry

Paged sees lower earnings

Paged SA timber-trading and furniture manufacturing group is expecting 22.3 percent decline in this year?s earnings and lower EBIT margins despite stronger sales forecast of some 344 million zloty. Publicly traded firm said yesterday its earnings could fall to an estimated 18.25 million zloty from PLN 23.3 million in 2004.

?Our expectations are higher than the earnings guidance we just gave, but we want to stay on the safe side?, chief executive and principal shareholder Edmund Mzyk told PARKIET on Wednesday.

Paged also said it plans to consolidate its various furniture-making subsidiaries into one company, called Paged Meble. It expects lower timber prices this year after a steady increase in 2004.

Packaging

Kęty opens new plant in Tychy

Grupa Kęty aluminum packaging manufacturer has opened a new, 20 million zloty packaging factory in Tychy special economic zone. New plant makes polyethylene film packaging for FMCG customers, Kęty said in a stock exchange announcement.

Civil engineering

Polnord may sell treasury stock to shareholder

Prokom Investments private equity fund says it plans to increase its stake in Polnord SA, a mid-sized building company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange to more than 33-percent from just over 21 percent it now owns.

People who follow the stock say Prokom may buy 14.6 percent stake in Polnord held by the company since the merger with Energobudowa over a year ago.

Sales at Polnord totaled about 300 million zloty ($96 million), sources close to the situation told PARKIET yesterday.

The economy

Think tank sees slower GNP growth

Instytut Badań nad Gospodarką Rynkową, an independent economic think-tank from Warsaw, sees no signs of economic slowdown despite the release of poor December industrial production figures just days ago. Bogdan Wyżnikiewicz, the president of IBnGR, expects the economy to grow at 5.2 percent this year compared with last year?s estimated GNP growth of 5.5 percent. Wyżnikiew

Insurance

Rivals consider bids for Nationwide TUnŻ

Several mid-sized life insurers are calculating whether to make bids for Nationwide TUnŻ, fifth largest life insurance group that was just put on sale by its owner. Industry analysts say most likely bidders include KBC-controlled Warta SA, Generali, HDI, Compensa and Nordea. All five declined to say outright whether or not they would be interested in Nationwide.