News Parkiet

Equity markets

A new way to postpone capital gains taxes

Polish Finance Ministry has apparently left a legal loophole that lets large investors postpone capital gains taxes by using matching after-hours block trades to reduce their capital gains. WSE market regulations let investors exchange large chunks of shares at a discount of up to 40 percent from their closing price during regular market hours. Finance Ministry officials told PARKIET recently these after-hours trades also count for the assessment of capital gains taxes.

Retailing

Castorama buys Alma's DIY store in Kraków

France's Castorama has agreed to pay PLN 31 million for a DIY store in Kraków now owned by Alma Market, a Polish retailer whose stock is listed on the WSE. Alma said it would book 16 million zloty in profits before taxes on the sale. Proceeds will be used to expand Alma's chain of mid-sized supermarkets and delis.

Travel

Air Polonia in talks with a new investor

Poland's biggest low-cost carrier Air Polonia is reportedly talking with another firm after offering to sell majority stake in the company. 'It's a mix between financial and trade investor and they already have stakes in air carriers across the world', Polonia's chief executive Jan Litwiński said, without disclosing the name of a prospective buyer.

Engineering

Energomontaż gives up key subsidiary

Energomontaż-Północ power plant construction group has lost the ownership over a namesake from Bełchatów, an engineering firm that accounted for about a third of parent company's consolidated revenue. Publicly traded Energomontaż said employees of Energomontaż-Północ-Bełchatów bought new stock issue of their company, reducing its own stake from about 98 to just 32 percent because the parent company had no spare cash. Bełchatów had sales of PLN 84 million last year, posting over 2.2 million in earnings. ROE totaled about 45 percent.

Insurance

PTU could end up getting stocks, not cash

PTU car insurer may receive stocks instead of the much-needed cash from a new shareholder interested in Warsaw-based company, sources close to the situation told PARKIET on Thursday. Impexmetal metals trading group, a government trading company said it may buy new shares of PTU three months ago, but the transaction has been postponed at least until the end of June. PTU, which barely escaped bankruptcy after misjudging market risk about two years ago still needs a cash injection of up to 25 million zloty

Petrochemicals

Orlen to restructure Unipetrol's finances

PKN Orlen refinery is reportedly talking with Czech banks to arrange the restructuring of bank loans owed by its newest subsidiary, Czech Republic's national oil company Unipetrol. PKN, which bought Unipetrol and other assets for an estimated 505 million dollars just weeks ago has already secured approval for the sale by the Czech authorities.