News Parkiet

Civil engineering

A bridge too far for Mostostal Płock

Mostostal Płock, an engineering company that is part-owned by Spain's Acciona group, could go bust if it loses a court case against former customer, PPRM bridge-builder. The two have traded charges and countercharges over a 36-million zloty contract to build a bridge on the Vistula in Płock, central Poland. PPRM demanded 191 million zloty in compensation after Mostostal tried to renegotiate terms of the contract because of rising steel prices.

'If the court rejects our position, that could only mean it recognizes PPRM's charges against Mostostal. Given their total claims, it would mean the bankruptcy of Mostostal Płock", chief executive Wiktor Guzek admitted yesterday.

Mostostal shareholders didn't seem too worried about their company's fate. Shares of Mostostal rose 3.9 percent to 21.1 zloty, the highest in over five years.

Public finances

Capital gains tax income falls on lower rates, saving habits

Polish government's income from capital gains taxes plunged 25 percent in the first six months of this year as investors switched to longer-term savings amidst lower interest rates and tax code changes. Tax intake in the six months to July totaled PLN 2.44 billion, Finance Ministry said recently.

Earlier this year, two-year old tax on interest income from banks, government bonds and other investments was reduced from 20 to 19 percent, in line with capital gains tax on stock market investments. The banks, which held some 188 billion zloty in personal savings at the end of June, say lower interest rates and a move towards low-interest, short-term cash deposits are partly to blame. Sources in the mutual fund industry and life insurers notice an opposite tendency and say their clients are shifting assets into long-term investments, postponing their tax payments.

Energy

Government to retain control over POGC pipelines

The Treasury Ministry wants to retain its stranglehold over a new pipeline operator spun off by the Polish Oil and Gas Company last month.

PGNiG Przesył operates a nation-wide natural gas pipeline network some 15.500 kilometers long. It was created on July 1st to comply with EU directives on third-party access to the pipeline grid.

'It's a huge asset that is critical for our country. The pipelines are worth several billion zloty. Transferring the ownership of POGC pipeline network will be one of the largest transactions in recent years', Dariusz Marzec, a senior Treasury official says.

POGC itself is scheduled for privatization through an IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange sometime next year.

Information Technology

Home.pl sees stronger 2004 sales

Top domain-based, web-hosting company Home.pl is expecting sales of more than 10 million zloty this year, chief marketing executive Piotr Kapcio told PARKIET yesterday. Privately-held firm, which has about 60.000 customers, mainly small businesses, reported six-month gross profits of 1.6 million zloty. Profits before taxes for the full year are set to rise to approximately 4 million zloty, Kapcio says.

Szczecin-based Home.pl boasts about 15 percent share of Poland's market for commercial web-hosting services.

Information Technology

Optimus postpones Ukrainian acquisition

Optimus SA, a publicly traded manufacturer of PC computers, said it would delay a 20-million zloty secondary offering after postponing planned acquisition of an unnamed Ukrainian IT company.

'We are negotiating a strategic partnership with one company there', CEO Bogdan Wiśniewski told PARKIET. However, plans to buy an equity stake in one of the biggest Ukrainian PC-makers will be moved back until Optimus feels comfortable with its new business partner, Wiśniewski said.

Logistics

Wandalex raises earnings forecast

Wandalex SA forklift distributor has raised its earnings guidanWarsaw-based company started out as wholesaler of Daewoo forklifts. It expanded into production of other warehouse equipment, including warehouse racks, as it sought higher margins.

Wandalex reported earnings of PLN 2.8 million for the first six months of this year. However, about a third of that comes from sale of its own stock held by a subsidiary since the semi-successful IPO several years ago.