News Parkiet

Personal finances

Bank rates rising after MPC decision

Polish banks are raising interest rates on loans and cash deposits after last Wednesday's 0.5 percent interest rate hike by RPP, the country's Monetary Policy Council. Most smaller lenders are waiting for leading banks, Pekao SA and the state-owned PKO BP before making their move, but some, including Kredyt Bank, Lukasbank and mBank, Poland's no. 1 Internet bank, have already announced they'll pay more for term deposits and other accounts.

Chemicals

POGC plans independent stock market debut

Polish Oil and Gas Company, the country's largest natural gas distributor could list new stock on the WSE without waiting privatization sale by the Polish government, sources close to the group told PARKIET recently. State-owned POGC says it needs between 1.5 and 2 billion zloty to finance new projects. Polish Treasury Ministry would have to agree to any independent stock sale plans. POGC Initial Public Offering, including the sale of government-held stock is tentatively scheduled sometime early next year. IPO advisor may be picked by the end of July, POGC chief executive Marek Kossowski said earlier.

Retailing

NFI Hetman to rise more money on WSE

Polish retailer NFI Hetman has announced plans to raise more money on the WSE to finance its expansion and acquisition strategy. Maciej Dyjas, chief executive of the former privatization fund estimates his company needs about 10 million euros for takeovers and up to 15 million euros to grow its existing business.

Eastbridge-group controlled NFI Hetman, which is due to change its name to NFI Empik Media&Fashion in August owns Empik music and media outlets, Domy Towarowe Centrum department stores and several smaller retail chains. Its annual sales total 1.03 billion zloty ($280 million).

Equity markets

DB Securities becomes Poland's no.

5 stockbroker

Deutsche Bank's DB Securities became Poland's no. 5 stockbroker by trading volume in June, more than doubling its market share since January. Warsaw-based DB Securities handled 7.7 percent of all equity trades on the WSE in June, up from 3.5 percent in January. The broker

'We are focusing on a specific group of customers, mainly large, financial clients. On the other hand we've put a lot of effort to generate the best research, sales and execution', says DB's Waldemar Markiewicz.

Citigroup's DM Banku Handlowego retained its no. 1 position, with 17.6 percent of the market.

Petrochemicals

Orlen must do better in retail, executive says

Poland's main oil refinery PKN Orlen has to improve its retail business to retain 40 percent share of the domestic market, senior executive responsible for retail and marketing told PARKIET in an interview. PKN's acquisition of the nearly 500 gas stations in northern Germany from BP isn't working as planned because of razor-thin margins on that market, Krzysztof Kluzek said.

Equity markets

BDM PKO BP has new ratings on glass-makers

BDM PKO BP begun covering the two publicly traded Polish glassware manufacturers, issuing a 'buy' rating for Huta Szkła Krosno. BDM analyst Paweł Małyska gave a 'neutral' recommendation to the much smaller crystal-maker Huta Szkła Irena despite prospects for industry consolidation. The broker has a target price of 17.5 zloty. The stock closed at 17.5 zloty yesterday.

Target price for Krosno was set at 140 zloty versus yesterday's close of 130 zloty. Krosno, Poland's largest maker of glassware and glass bottles, recently bought assets of a bankrupt glass-making plant in neighboring Ukraine. It also plans to sell two valuable properties in south central Poland. The company, controlled by Polish businessman Zdzisław Sawicki is also counting on EU cohesion funds to improve its production capacity.

FDI

Poland's FDI inflows risingInternational corporations could invest up to 3 billion dollars in the Polish economy, creating thousands of new jobs, Polish foreign investment agency reported yesterday. PAIiIZ, which is responsible for Foreign Direct Investments in Poland estimates there are as many as 80 new projects in the pipeline, mainly in automotive sector and service industry.