News Parkiet

Chemicals

BorsodChem to list on the WSE

Hungarian plastics-maker BorsodChem Rt. may list its shares on the WSE as early as October 8 after Polish stock market regulator agreed to dual listing on the local market. Its shares are already listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange. BorsodChem stock sale in Poland will be handled by CA IB Securities, the company said.

Vienna Capital Partners, an Austrian investment group, said earlier it wants to sell its 67.9 percent stake of the thinly traded firm on the international markets, including London and Frankfurt. Sources close to the transaction said yesterday about a fifth of BorsodChem stake, worth an estimated 100 million dollars, would be offered to investors from Poland.

If the offering succeeds, BorsodChem will become the second non-Polish company to list on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Civil engineering

Polnord regains investor confidence with Wilanów contract

Shares of Gdańsk-based building contractor Polnord S.A. rose as much as 10.1 percent to 13.65 zloty, the highest since January after Wednesday?s announcement of the 105 million zloty contract in Warsaw

Wilanów Investment, an SPV set up by Prokom Investments and by PKO BP hired Polnord to build four apartment blocks in Wilanów, Warsaw?s most prestigious and most expensive residential district. The contract represents over a third of Polnord?s revenue over the last twelve months.

Shares of Polnord traded as low as 8.35 zloty after a controversial merger with Energobudowa, a power plant construction group, which admitted it overstated its assets after the deal was closed.

Sources close to the company say Polnord together with unnamed partners is bidding for two international contracts worth 140 million dollars each.

Civil engineering

Budimex sets up new unit in Germany

Poland?s biggest construction company Budimex S.A. has decided to set up wholly owned subsidiary in Germany to boost sales on the market there, company spokesman told PARKIET yesterday. ?We?ve been in Germany for over 30 years and we know about the obstacles facing Polish firms there. We believe that we can overcome some of these problems by registering a company in Germany?, Krzysztof Kozioł said. The new firm will be called Budimex Bau.

Budimex, which is controlled by Spain?s Ferrovial and is part of WIG20 blue-chip index of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, reported annual sales of approximately 160 million zloty ($45 million) in Germany over the last three years.

Pharmaceuticals

Torfarm down on IPO

Rights to shares issued by Torfarm SA, a regional drug distributor from Poznań, fell 2.2 percent on their first day of trading on the Warsaw bourse yesterday. The stock closed at 45 zloty, down one point from its IPO price of 46 zloty per share. Torfarm raised PLN 31 million in an offering managed by Dom Inwestycyjny BRE Banku, a subsidiary of BRE Bank.

Founder and CEO Kazimierz Herba says he is happy about the IPO. ?Going public is like graduating from high school. We?ve closed a new stage in the growth of our company?, Herba said. Stockbrokers say Torfarm, which had six-month sales of some 623 million zloty, may have fallen because investors are saving their money for the much larger privatization offering of PKO BP later this month.

Chemicals

NFI Piast sells small stake in Dwory rubber

factory

NFI Piast privatization fund has sold its 1.93 percent stake in Firma Chemiczna Dwory, Poland?s biggest maker of rubber products for about 3.7 million zloty in a deal closed earlier this week. Based on Piast?s price of 15 zloty per share privately held Dwory, which is controlled by NFI Foksal, another privatization fund, may be worth more than 191 million zloty.

Firma Chemiczna Dwory, which had six-month earnings of PLN 39.5 million, filed for IPO with Polish stockmarket regulators several weeks ago.

AiPLL LOT, Poland?s state-controlled airline, may sell its shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in the first half of 2005, chief executive Marek Grabarek said yesterday. ?Decisions on additional financing will probably be made this year and I believe the stock market is the best way to do it?, Grabarek said. Poland owns 68 percent of LOT, formerly part of Swissair Group.