News Parkiet

Taxes

Polish taxes on building supplies highest in CEE

After May 1st tax hike, Poland will have the highest value added tax (VAT) on construction materials of all countries in Central Europe. Industry sources say sales of building materials may plunge as much as 50 percent once the government starts levying new tax. Wholesale suppliers of building materials say Poles will start shopping in the neighboring Czech Republic, Germany or in Slovakia, taking advantage of lower VAT taxes and no customs fees for their products.

Mutual funds

Law on mutual funds delayed again

New regulations governing mutual fund industry will be delayed again by at least another month. Polish parliament is waiting for a Finance Ministry report on effects of the new law.

Plast-Box up 28 pct. on IPO

Shares of Plast-Box packaging maker rose 27.8 percent from their IPO price of 27 zloty on their first day of trading on Warsaw Stock Exchange.Existing shareholders, who came to Warsaw from Plast-Box' home city of Słupsk to witness the IPO said they were happy with Friday's debut. 'I've just realized it's probably the first time in the history of our company that all of our executives are away from their desks', joked Plast-Box CEO and co-founder Waldemar Pawlak.Plast-Box raised approximately 17 million zloty before underwriters' fees in this year's second IPO. The company, which makes plastic buckets for the food industry and paint makers, has annual sales of approximately 40 million zloty. Its market cap based on Friday's closing price now stands at PLN 50 million.

Media

Vectra may sell stock on WSE

Sahres of Vectra cable TV operator may be listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, sources close to the company told PARKIET on Friday. The company, part owned by BRE Bank's private equity subsidiary would be the first cable operator to go public. Vectra is one of Poland's top five cable companies, with local cable systems in at least 85 cities in northern and central part of the country. It has over 500.00 subscribers after buying out dozens of local and regional cable operators.

Breweries

Brok-Strzelec loss widens

Publicly traded regional brewery Brok-Strzelec posted fourth-quarter loss of almost 4 million zloty ($1 million), with the twelve-month loss rising to PLN 10 million on lower revenue. Quarterly sales fell by half because the company had no money to pay for beer cans and other essential supplies.Cash-strapped company owes several million zloty to Bank Pekao, which financed the purchase of Brok brewery in late 2002.Brok-Strzelec has just completed a 45-million zloty secondary offering that will help the company regain its balance.

Information Technology

Prokom's 4Q net doubles

Prokom Software, Poland's top IT services company reported fourth-quarter income of 64.4 million zloty, more than double last year's earnings in the comparable period. Gdynia, northern Poland-based company said its annual earnings totaled PLN 104 million, or 40 percent higher than two years ago. Sales were up by about 25 percent to PLN 1.44 billion ($370 million). Both figures were in line with analyst expectations.

Energy

POGC prepares emergency plan for another gas shutdown

Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG), the country's national pipeline operator has prepared an emergency plan in the event of another shutdown of natural gas supplies from Russia. Last week Russia's Gazprom suspended supplies through neighboring Belarus in a dispute with Belarussian officials over pricing for this year's contract. The shutdown of Yamal transcontinental pipeline lasted several hours.PGOC officials say one likely scenario is the construction of new Bernau pipeline linking the Polish city of Szczecin with the European pipeline network.

Metals

Nomura sells stake in ImpexmetalJapanese investment bank Nomura International has sold its 15.3 percent stake in Polish metals trading company Impexmetal. Nomura owned 1.63 million shares of the former communist-era foreign trade company. The bank sold its stake in a series of pre-arranged, after-hours block trades to Polish pension funds and other institutional investors raising an estimated 55 million zloty ($14.1 million).