News Parkiet

Bonds market

Paris Club creditors may securitize Polish debt, Fitch says

Several Paris Club Creditors may repackage and sell a portion of their 13.7 billion euro Polish debt holdings to the private sector, creating a new, high-quality, liquid instrument, Fitch Ratings warned in a recent report. A similar transaction in July has depressed yields of Russian government bonds. Polish Finance Ministry says it isn?t worried about the risk.

Chemicals

Hungary?s BorsodChem may be listed on the WSE

Vienna Capital Partners is planning to sell 68 percent stake in Hungary?s BorsodChem chemicals group on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, possibly as early as this year in an offering that may be worth approximately 530 million dollars. Sources close to BorsodChem say it has plans to buy one of several Polish chemical plants scheduled for privatization by the government.

Construction industry

Major construction firms

go on hiring spree

Polish construction companies have begun hiring once again after years of malaise that drove many firms into bankruptcy. Poland?s biggest civil engineering firm, Budimex SA, created over 500 new jobs in the seven months to August expanding its workforce by more than 12 percent, company sources said. Ferrovial-owned firm cut some administrative positions. Other large construction companies that took on new staff include Polish unit of Strabag, Polimex-Mostostal Siedlce and ZREW. The latter, which specializes in power industry projects, added 120 new jobs to its payrolls. It now has over 2000 employees.

Information Technology

Two more executives leave Ster-Projekt

Michał Tuszyński and Włodzimierz Kawecki, two senior executives at Ster-Projekt, a mid-sized IT services firm said they would leave the company citing personal reasons.

Both worked for Ster-Projekt since 1999 and were responsible for business development and telecommunications.

Ster-Projekt, whose shares are trading near their 52-week low has already lost its CFO in July after disclosing that a single software sale contract accounted for most of its earnings in 2003.

Information Technology

Pension funds raise their Softbank stake

Several OFE pension funds have raised their stake in Softbank S.A., one of Poland?s largest provider of IT services for the financial industry after the stock fell more than 10 percent in mid- to late July. Grupa PZU, led by the country?s largest insurance company, now owns more than 10 percent of Warsaw-based company. OFE ING Nationale Nederlanden, second largest private pension fund, has accumulated 2.4 percent of Softbank.