News Parkiet

Monetary policy

MPC keeps rates on hold

Poland?s Monetary Policy Council left interest rates unchanged at a record low of 5.25 percent, but said it may tighten its bias in March on concerns about higher inflation and widening budget gap. ?The council decided to keep its neutral bias (towards interest rates), but that doesn?t rule out we would change our outlook to ?restrictive? at our next meeting?, MPC said in a statement. Andrzej Sławiński, one of nine new MPC members said the likelihood of higher interest rates sometime this year is much greater than another rate cut.

Equity market

Still no decisions on WSE privatization strategy

Poland still hasn?t made up its mind on future privatization strategy for the country?s sole stock market, the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Sources at the Treasury Ministry say officials haven?t decided yet on who will assist the government in WSE privatization sale.

Breweries

Żywiec posts strong earnings

Heineken?s Polish subsidiary Grupa Żywiec S.A. announced plans to pay another record dividend from last year?s earnings. The group said it would pay as much as 20 zloty per share, same as last year after its earnings nearly tripled to PLN 206 million. Sales by volume were up 8 percent, with annual revenue at PLN 3.2 billion. ?It?s been a very good year for us?, said Żywiec CEO Nico Nusmeier. He warned, however the company expects higher costs this year as it integrates three Polish breweries purchased from Brau Union.

Żywiec has about a third of the Polish market, running neck and neck with SABMiller?s Kompania Piwowarska.

Insurance

e-banks start selling insurance products over the Internet

Polish e-banks are starting to diversify their income streams by selling third-party insurance products over the Internet. Just days ago PKO BP?s Internet arm Inteligo begun offering PZU?s ?Wojażer? holiday assistance and life insurance package. Inteligo, which has approximately 250.000 accounts said it has sold over 700 policies so far. This week BRE?s mBank starts selling home insurance products offered by Generali.