News Parkiet

Pension funds

Skarbiec buys own fund using pensioners? money

BRE Bank?s OFE Skarbiec private pension is reported to have spend some 5 million zloty to buy investment certificates issued by its sister company, TFI Skarbiec mutual fund group, guaranteeing the success of TFI?s 50 million zloty issue.

KNUiFE, government agency which oversees Polish insurance firms and private pension funds admits the transaction was legal, but says it will ban similar future deals.

Petrochemicals

PKN to make a joint bid for Unipetrol with Conoco

PKN Orlen national oil company will make a bid for Unipetrol from the Czech Republic with ConocoPhilips, PKN said yesterday in a statement.

ConocoPhilips and PKN signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding that discusses potential, future division of ownership rights in Unipetrol and its subsidiaries, PKN said.

Czech government has put on sale 63 percent of Unipetrol, Czech Republic?s largest petrochemical company.

Engineering

Elektrobudowa wins largest contract in ten years

Elektrobudowa S.A., a publicly traded power industry services company has signed a 38 million zloty ($10.1 million) deal with Elektrownia Łagisza power plant. Two-year contract is Elektrobudowa?s largest since 1994.

Over the last four weeks Elektrobudowa?s order backlog grew by almost 65 million zloty.

The company, controlled by the PZU insurer and other financial investors has annual sales of some 250 million zloty.

Equity market

Polish-Italian jv to list in Warsaw

Gino Rossi shoe factory from Słupsk in northwestern Poland says it will try to raise money on the Warsaw Stock Exchange to finance expansion of its retail distribution network.

Founded twelve years ago by a group of Polish and Italian businessmen, the company owns nearly 60 factory outlets across Poland. It also has several stores abroad, including one in Berlin.

Focusing on high end of the market, Gino Rossi became one of top Polish shoe makers with annual sales of some 78 million zloty in 2002. Sales last year were down 5 percent after the company sold some of its retail outlets.

Bond market

Poland sells 1.5 billion euro worth

of eurobonds

Poland sold 1.5 billion euro worth of new bonds on Thursday, the first of several sales this year that are set to raise a record 5 billion euros to finance the country?s growing budget gap. Yesterday?s five-year bonds were priced to yield 3.875 percent