News Parkiet

Equity markets

Poland invites US exchanges

to bid for WSE

One of US stock exchanges could buy a stake in the Warsaw bourse in a future privatization sale, Treasury Minister Jacek Socha said yesterday at a meeting with members of US Chamber of Commerce in Poland. NYSE officials said they are aware of Mr. Socha?s statement, but won?t comment on it for now.

Three European bourses - the Euronext, Nordic OMX and the Wiener Boerse said they might be interested in buying the WSE. Polish authorities said earlier they plan to sell about 40 percent of the Warsaw Stock Exchange to an international partner.

Mutual funds

Polish clearing houses turning

multinational

Several major mutual fund clearing houses say they are talking with international financial groups that may outsource some of their payment processing to cheaper Polish firms. BRE Agent Transferowy and Citigroup Globalne Usługi Finansowe each says they plan to sign their first payment processing contracts within months.

Food industry

Rolimpex gains on upgrade, asset sale

Shares of Rolimpex animal feed maker closed at 19 zloty, near their seven-year high after a report by a local broker and the sale of non-core assets. Rolimpex, a former communist-era exporter of agricultural products, has just sold its 60 percent stake in RMR Deere farm machinery distributor to John Deere, the other partner in the project for PLN 23.5 million. The stake cost Rolimpex just 11.8 million zloty. Meanwhile, Dom Maklerski BZ WBK gave the company a ?buy? rating, noting that Rolimpex may benefit from the recent increase in meat production in Poland. The group has an 11 percent market share.

Logistics

FedEx to start operations in Poland

FedEx Corporation has announced plans to open an office in Warsaw after hooking up with a local partner, Polish courier company Stolica. The world?s biggest air courier will start daily cargo flights linking Warsaw with its European distribution center in Paris.