News Parkiet

Equity market

SEC registers PKO BP offering

Polish Securities and Exchanges Commission gave its official blessing to the 6 billion zloty IPO by the country?s largest bank, state-owned PKO BP. The government is expected to sell up to 300 million existing shares in an offering scheduled for mid-October.

Taxes

EU forces Poland to raise VAT tax on Internet access

Polish government has agreed to start taxing Internet access after European Union officials threatened financial penalties unless the country eliminates preferential treatment for individual users. Finance Ministry said it is ?ready to accept a revised law on VAT taxes, imposing 22% tax on Internet access?.

Pharmaceuticals

PGF launches stock option program

Polska Grupa Farmaceutyczna, Poland?s biggest wholesaler of medical products, has begun its stock option plan, first approved in mid-2003. Shareholders of Łodź-based company backed the plan to award up to 390.000 shares, or 3.2 percent of the total to 50 senior managers and other key staff.

The stock will be issued over a period of three years, until August 2006.

Pricing will depend on previous year?s group earnings. This year, PGF plans to sell 117.000 shares at 9.4 zloty each. That compares with yesterday?s closing price of 61 zloty.

Personal savings

Poland holds back on

higher bond yields

Yields of retail bonds about to go on sale in September won?t be raised despite last week?s 0.5 percent interest rate hike, Polish Finance Ministry said. Return on popular two-year bonds has risen to 7 percent since November 2003.

Next month Poland will start selling new ten-year, variable rate bonds designed specifically for the owners of IKE personal retirement accounts.

Health services

Swissmed IPO to start on Sept. 9

Initial Public Offering of the first Polish private hospital trying to raise money on the public market is scheduled to begin on September 9. Swissmed SA, a small hospital operator from Gdańsk, announced plans to sell up to 7 million new shares. The firm, which is controlled by Bruno Hangartner, says it wants to raise around 19 million zloty, including PLN 11 million to repay its debts.

Swissmed reported six-month sales of just 3.3 million zloty. Net loss totaled PLN 2.6 million.

Monetary policy

Inflation may rise again, central bank says

Poland?s Consumer Price Index could rise to as much as 6 percent in 1Q 2005 without higher interest rates, central bank officials said yesterday, presenting their inflation projections between now and the end of 2006. The MPC has raised interest rates by 50 basis points last week.