News Parkiet

Equity markets

TVN may list shares on other EU exchanges

Private broadcaster TVN has received EU?s single passport prospectus yesterday, making it the first Polish company cleared for listing on other European exchanges based on new rules.

Meanwhile, German venture capital fund bmp AG, which has extensive interest in Poland, plans to use the same EU law to list its shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Privatization

Poland could raise PLN 11 bn

from privatization sales

Polish government could raise as much as 11 billion zloty from asset sales this year thanks to hugely successful initial public offering of the country?s largest bank, PKO BP. The government said earlier it has a privatization target of PLN 8.8 billion.

Banking

BPH?s net more than doubles

Bank BPH, Poland?s no. 3 bank by assets said third-quarter profits more than doubled on mortgage lending. Net income rose to 165 million zloty ($49 million) from PLN 66.7 million last year, chief executive Józef Wancer said at a press conference yesterday. BPH?s mortgage lending was up 58 percent to 6.6 billion zloty in the twelve months to September, Wancer said. The bank is expecting a strong fourth quarter and plans to pay 75 percent of this year?s earnings as dividends, Wancer said.

Public finances

Senate approves new income tax for the rich

The senate voted yes to a proposal for a new, 50 percent income tax bracket for those making more than 600.000 zloty ($176.000) a year. Only a few thousand people at most are actually expected to pay the tax and even the Finance Ministry, which opposed tax hike for the rich, admits it is unlikely to have any impact on Poland?s public finances.

Equity markets

No major changes in October brokerage ranking

Citigroup unit Dom Maklerski Banku Handlowego, Poland?s no. 1 stockbroker, retained its top spot in an industry ranking in October. Its market share by volume rose from 17 to 22 percent. CDM Pekao took the second place with 12.3 percent market share. Third-ranked ING Securities slid from 13.3 to 11.3 percent.

Civil engineering

Elektrobudowa down pct. on 3Q earnings

Shares of Polish building contractor Elektrobudowa SA plunged as much as 6.8 percent, closing at 27.4 zloty after lower than expected third-quarter earnings. Profits of Katowice-based company fell by half to PLN 1.5 million because of higher production costs. Quarterly earnings of Elektrobudowa, a widely held MIDWIG stock, rose 11 percent to PLN 68 million.

BDM PKO BP and Dom Inwestycyjny BRE Banku, two Polish stockbrokers covering the stock expected quarterly earnings of 2.3 and 3.5 million zloty respectively.

Plastics

Plast-Box cuts guidance, blames higher oil prices

Plast-Box SA, a small, publicly traded packaging manufacturer, blamed higher oil prices on lower than expected earnings and a 50 percent cut in earnings guidance for the year. Shares of the company, which makes plastic buckets and boxes, rose 1.2 percent to close at 24.9 zloty, near their all-time low yesterday after early morning announcement it would reduce earnings projection from 3 to 1.5 million zloty because of higher than expected prices of polypropylene, a key product whose price is linked to crude oil. Delays in the opening of a new subsidiary in Ukraine also contributed to lower earnings, Plast-Box said.

Mutual funds

SEC clears fund plans for derivatives? trading

TFI Union Investment mutual found group received SEC blessing to invest its clients? money in futures? contracts as part of asset management services.

Part of Germany?s Union Investment group, TFI Union Investment, begun offering asset management services to large institutional clients. By the end of next year TFI Union Investment plans to increase assets under management to PLN 2.8 billion ($295 million).

Power industrySenior managers of several Polish power distribution companies say they don?t want to join Południowy Koncern Energetyczny and BOT, two vertically-integrated, government-owned energy holdings. Power grid operators say they power plants have too much debt to merge with power plants, adding they need two more years to restructure their own operations.