News Parkiet

The economy

Industrial output up sharply

in March, GUS says

Poland?s industrial output was up 23.3 percent year on year in March, the country?s Main Office of Statistics (GUS) announced after the market close on Tuesday. Economists, who on average expected production to rise 17 percent attribute higher industrial output to rising export sales. Inflation remains under control, but some analysts say it may start creeping up again, forcing rate-setting Monetary Policy Council to tighten its outlook.

Banking

Raiffeisen will consider

listing in Warsaw

Raiffeisen International, a unit of Austria?s Raiffeisen Zentralbank may list its shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, deputy chairman of RZB Herbert Stepic said yesterday. ?If we go public and if we have a listing other than Vienna, Warsaw will be the place to go?, Stepic told the media.

Raiffeisen has significant market presence in Central and Eastern Europe, with units in 16 countries across the region. Its Polish subsidiary, Raiffeisen Bank Polska is a mid-sized bank generating earnings of some 22 million dollars last year.

Equity market

DGA up 13 pct. on IPO

Shares of DGA Doradztwo Gospodarcze business consulting firm rose 13.1 percent to close at 31.1 zloty on their first day of trading in Warsaw.

DGA sold 560.000 shares priced at 27.5 zloty each in late March.

?It would be nice if our stock went up to 50 zloty by December?, DGA?s Chief Executive Officer Andrzej Głowacki said. ?But we?d have to show investors really strong earnings for that to happen?, Głowacki added.

On Monday DGA announced it will open its own office in Moscow to help promote business ties between Polish and Russian companies.

DGA, which handled a number of mid-sized privatization sales for the Polish government and is now branching into software development and consulting, is forecasting earnings of 3.4 million zloty on sales of PLN 23.2 million. That compares with Tuesday?s market cap of around 70 million zloty.