News Parkiet

Pension funds

Poland to set up 'money market-type' private pension funds

Polish government wants to modify pension fund laws, giving future retirees an opportunity to choose a safer alternative to mandatory pension funds. Ministry of the Economy says it wants to introduce a new type of pension funds investing in high-grade, short-term debt. Existing pension funds are much more volatile due to one-third equity component in their portfolios. New funds may be launched in early 2005.

Equity markets

IPO market is back to life

Polish IPO market is heating up again, with two recent deals oversubscribed ten times or more. All four IPO stocks sold late last year climbed between 15 and 30 percent on their first day of trading, prompting renewed interest from retail and institutional investors alike.

This week's 12.6 million zloty IPO by e-learning company Betacom S.A. was oversubscribed between 10 and 20 times by local investors. Plast-Box, which makes plastic buckets and similar products sold 17.5 million zloty worth of new stock in just three days.

Equity analysts say IPO market will remain strong at least until the fall of 2004. Sources at the Polish SEC say nine new companies have already filed for IPO with stock market authorities in recent months.

Commodities exchange

SEC investigating WGT sale attempt

Polish SEC is investigating possible violation of securities regulations after a newspaper ad that offered to sell stock in WGT, the company that owns Warsaw Commodities Exchange. Stock market regulator has already notified Warsaw district attorney about the ad.

Under Polish securities laws, potential buyers or shareholders soliciting bids from the general public without regulatory approval risk a fine of up to one million zloty ($260.000) and a prison sentence of up to two years.

Equity market

CA IB upgrades Impel after share buyback

CA IB brokerage has upgraded its earnings projection for Impel S.A. cleaning and security group, raising this year's EPS forecasts by 15.7 percent. The broker gave Impel 'hold' rating, noting it has limited upside potential despite the recent buyback of 1.4 million shares. CA IB set Impel's target price at 32 zloty. The stock closed at 29.9 zloty yesterday.

Pharmaceuticals

AstraZeneca to increase spending

on Polish research unit

AstraZeneca Pharma Poland says it will increase its market share from 2.6 to 3 percent this year. Polish subsidiary of global pharma giant AstraZeneca has sales of approximately 250 million zloty, making it one of top ten domestic drug companies.

AstraZeneca will invest over 20 million zloty in clinical drug research unit in Poland. Currently one-fifth of AstraZeneca's Polish staff is involved in clinical research trials.

Engineering

Mostostal Siedlce's net triples to 14.5 million zloty

Net earnings of Mostostal Siedlce engineering group rose to 14.5 million zloty last year, the company said in a preliminary statement released on Wednesday. That compares with profits of just 5.2 million zloty in 2002. Sales totaled 500 million zloty.

Mostostal will present complete, consolidated earnings figures on February 16.

Banking

ABN Amro sells 5 pct. stake in Bank Austria

ABN Amro investment bank announced plans to sell 4.9 percent stake in Bank Austria Creditanstalt (BACA) yesterday at 45 euro per share. The Netherlands' largest bank is offering 7.2 million shares of BACA worth a total of 324 million euro.

ABN Amro took a large stake in Bank Austria during last year's IPO.

Shares of Bank Austria will be included in WIG20 blue-chip index in late March. The stock is listed in Warsaw since the fall of 2003.

Information Technology

Telmax announces new stock sale

Bydgoszcz software house Telmax announced plans to sell 10 million zloty worth of new stock to an uTelmax has market cap of just 32 million zloty ($8.4 million).