News Parkiet

Mining

Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa may be sold through the WSE

JSW, a huge, state-owned mine holding from southern Poland, may be listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, government officials told PARKIET yesterday. First, Europe's largest maker of metallurgical coke may be merged with three local coke-making plants as part of vertical integration plan, Treasury Ministry says. Last year Jastrzębska reported sales of approximately PLN 3.67 billion, netting some 876 million zloty ($230) thanks to rising commodity prices.

Banking

PKO BP may start trading on Nov. 5, Socha says

Shares of PKO BP may start trading on November 5, Treasury Minister Jacek Socha said at the Polish parliament yesterday. Its IPO prospectus will be published by the end of this month, while preliminary price range will be set on October 15, Socha said. The government wants to sell 300 million shares, or 30 percent of the total in an IPO worth an estimated 6 billion zloty ($1.58 billion).

Chemicals

ZA Puławy may go public after a successful restructuring plan

Zakłady Azotowe Puławy, one of Central Europe's largest chemicals firms, may list its shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange after completing a cost-cutting program that restored its profitability. ZA Puławy suffered serious liquidity problems as recently as two years ago after the banks refused to provide financing for new melamine production facility. Since then, ZA Puławy shed 7.9 percent of its workforce, mainly through attrition and retirements. Payroll costs as percentage of total expenses fell from 10.4 percent in 2002 to 8.4 percent this year. In addition, ZA Puławy has reduced inventories from 171 to 106 million zloty. In the fiscal year ending in June, Puławy reported earnings of more than 150 million zloty. That compares with a loss of PLN 130 million a year ago. Revenue was up 36 percent to 364 million euros. ZA Puławy, which is controlled by the Polish government, has already tried and failed to sell its stock to the public in mid-2001.

Telecommunications

Polkomtel sees strong second-half

Vodafone subsidiary Polkomtel SA reported second-quarter earnings of 245 million zloty ($64.5 million), up 14.5 percent despite higher customer acquisition costs and other operating expenses. Poland's smallest mobile phone company said its revenue in the three months to July totaled 1.4 billion zloty, up 8.6 percent. EBITDA and EBITDA margins fell to 2.3 percent to PLN 508 million and 3.9 percent to 35.5 percent respectively, while SAC (Subscriber Acquisition Cost - marketing expenses related to the acquisition of new customers), rose 18.3 percent to an average of 539 zloty. Polkomtel, which is better known by its Plus GSM brand name, had just over six million customers at the end of June, half of them regular subscribers. Simplus prepaid phone service had just over 3.2 million users.

Personal savings

Poland to start selling ten-year bonds, Szczuka says

Poland is planning to sell 100 million zloty worth of ten-year retail bonds every month starting October, deputy Finance Minister Wiesław Szczuka told PARKIET in an interview this week. New variable-rate savings bonds will be sold to owners of IKE pension accounts that were launched on September 1st.

Steel

Stalexport settles government claims over Huta Ostrowiec

Stalexport SA, Poland's biggest steel trading company, has agreed to pay 72.6 million zloty in government claims related to the 1997 loan guarantee of a former business partner. Publicly traded group has negotiated four-year grace period until August 2008. Loan guarantee plus interest will be repaid over the next six years, until 2014, Stalexport said. The settlement will pave the way for another stock offering, further diluting Stalexport stock. Katowice-based company now has about 108 million shares outstanding. The stock closed at 2.73 zloty yesterday, down 3 percent on Information Technology

IBM Polska focusing on corporate services

IBM Polska is working on a new strategy that puts more emphasis on consulting services for large corporate clients, chief executive of the Polish unit said yesterday. 'We have over 1000 staff here. Two hundred are working on consulting-related projects', Dariusz Fabiszewski said. 'We want people to see us not only as an IT provider, but also as a partner in the implementation of business transformation process', Fabiszewski added. IT-related services already account for 60 percent of IBM Polska's revenue.