News Parkiet

Stock market

WSE to narrow blue-chip trading range

Warsaw Stock Exchange may narrow official trading range for WIG20 stocks from 10 to 5 percent during each trading session, bourse officials said in a letter to local brokerage houses yesterday. Other changes proposed by WSE authorities include lower order size for options traders and new trading limits for options, warrants and rights to shares. WSE say the moves would strengthen investor protection.

Privatization

Poland to expand privatization

of state assets

Polish Treasury Minister Zbigniew Kaniewski has expanded the list of state-owned companies scheduled for privatization while trying to raise money to reduce this year's budget deficit. The list of firms that will be offered to investors has been enlarged from 157 to 211. Between 10 and 20 state companies will be sold through the Warsaw bourse, Kaniewski said.

This year's privatization target is set at PLN 8.8 billion, however actual asset sales by the end of February raised just 850 million zloty.

New list of state assets for sale includes minority stakes in at least a dozen publicly traded companies. However, smaller stakes in Polish banks won't be sold, Kaniewski said at yesterday's press conference. The government still owns less than 5 percent stakes in at least four banks listed on the WSE. Their total value based on yesterday's closing prices is estimated at PLN 1.5 billion.

Information Technology

Telmax to join Prokom Software group

Telmax software house has announced plans to sell 4.8 million new shares in a friendly, reverse takeover by PUP Spin, a much larger maker of billing systems controlled by Prokom Software, Poland's largest IT company. Sources close to the transaction said the two firms will then merge into a single company sometime before June. Privately held SPIN will control over 80 percent of the new firm. With annual sales of more 100 million zloty, SPIN is best known as the main supplier of billing systems for Telekomunikacja Polska, Poland's national phone company.

Telmax rose 25 percent to close at 58 zloty, the highest in well over a year on takeover announcement. Its market cap now stands at 43 million zloty ($11.3 million).

Pharmaceuticals

Polfa Warszawa looking abroad

to increase sales

Polfa Warszawa drug-maker says it will invest as much as 200 million zloty by 2007 to start production of new drugs and to buy new equipment. State-owned company says planned CAPEX spending will be financed exclusively with retained profits and amortization.

Polfa, which has annual sales of nearly 300 million zloty expects single-digit sales growth this year. Export sales to North Africa and elsewhere account for an increasing part of its revenues, up 13 percent last year alone. Foreign sales to Russia, Ukraine, Asia and other countries totaled PLN 80 million, or 21 million US dollars.