News Parkiet

Personal finances

Online Czech broker seeks Polish clients

FIO, Czech Republic's biggest online broker, has announced plans to offer its brokerage services to retail investors in Poland, the first foreign brokerage to do so. The broker is seeking at least 200 daytraders within a year. It plans brokerage services in Prague, New York and Frankfurt.

German and French brokers say they have no plans to follow FIO because the Polish market is too small, at least for now. Cortal Consorts and Comdirekt both admit they already have clients from Poland, but neither has immediate plans to expand their operations here.

Equity markets

Charges seen over February 4 trading scam

District attorney in Warsaw is expected to file formal charges against two investors implicated in February 4 futures manipulation scheme. Their backers, owners of offshore investment fund called Cagliari, won't be charged, however, because Polish authorities don't know who owns Virgin Islands-registered company.

Over 300 investors, including BDM PKO BP brokerage house, lost a total of 5.44 million zloty ($1.52 million) after two large orders caused sudden price swings of WIG20 index futures contracts. Cagliari's owners allegedly earned as much as 2.57 million zloty after the contracts fell 6.6 percent only to recover 17.1 percent within seconds of two orders made from company's trading accounts.

Banking

PKO BP to start trading on Nov. 5

Shares of PKO BP, Poland's largest bank by assets will begin trading on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on November 5, Treasury Ministry said yesterday in a presentation at the Polish parliament. The government has announced plans to sell 30 percent of PKO BP in a privatization IPO worth an estimated 5 to 6 billion zloty. Up to 10 percent of all shares will be sold to international investors, officials said.

Initial price range will be published on October 15, Treasury said. Book-building will start three days later.

Steel industry

Zetkama files for IPO

Zetkama SA, Kłodzko-based maker of cast steel iron components used by power industry and utilities, has filed for IPO with KPWiG, Poland's Securities and Exchanges Commission. The company would like to raise money for expansion, CEO Leszek Juras told PARKIET yesterday.

Zetkama has annual sales of approximately 60 million zloty ($16.9 million), mainly to customers outside Poland. Main clients include Sweden's ABB.

Mutual funds

TFI SKOK to expand retail business

Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych SKOK, a small mutual fund company run by Polish credit unions, has announced plans to expand its retail operations by launching two new funds. 'We are working on three new funds. Sales will start at either at the end of Q1 or in early Q2 of 2005', chief executive Rafał Matusiak says.

TFI SKOK now has just one money market fund with assets of some 115 million zloty, mainly savings of its founding credit unions. Right now, just one out of the 1400 SKOK outlets sells funds to retail clients.

SKOK credit unions have over one million members.

Telecommunications

Deutsche Telekom rejects Vivendi's offer

to sell PTC

Deutsche Telekom, Europe's largest telco, has rejected a joint offer of Vivendi and Elektrim to sell their 51 percent stake in Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, Poland's top mobile phone company. No reason was given for the decision. The two firms were asking 1.3 billion euros for their stake in a joint venture that owns 51 percent of PTC, better known under Era and Heyah brand names.

Deutsche Telekom has 49 percent stake in PTC. It already retains operating control over the Polish firm.

'Vivendi told us they have received an official notice from DT saying they can't sign the deal right now', Elektrim's acting CEO Piotr Nurowski said.

Building materials

Analyst rates Novita a 'buy'

NovitBDM, a unit of PKO BP bank, has a 'buy' rating on Novita, which makes geo-fibers and carpeting products. It expects Novita to report earnings of some 2 million zloty for the year compared with last year's loss of PLN 5.4 million, with sales rising to at least 94.9 million zloty.

BDM has set a target price of 20 zloty for Novita versus yesterday's close of PLN 13.95 zloty.

The stockbroker has no business relationship with the company, although it did make a bid for serve as Novita's market maker recently.