Polish Business Survey
Not good for investors
TuesdayŐs stock market session brutally smashed the hopes of investors that the market would continue to improve, albeit slightly. YesterdayŐs drop clearly is not the last. A further negative sign was the increase in supply and the continuing trend of selling stock in companies working in the new economy. It is therefore obvious that markets are now in a bear trend.
On target for record sales
Up until the end of June domestic breweries sold 1.18bn litres of beer, a twelve percent increase on the first half of 1999. Kompania Piwowarska, producers of Lech continued to have good results and reinforced their number two national position, shortening the gap with market leaders Żywiec. Even those who noted falling sales in the first quarter such as Żywiec and Okocim would appear to be coming out of their slump. The whole sector is not only looking at its best ever year but also its largest ever increase in products sold.
EFL goes into real estate
Wrocław based Europejski Fundusz Leasingowy has decided to enter the real estate leasing market. The company is claiming that it will finance this expansion through its own funds and believes that most clients will come from small and medium sized businesses.
Pernod threatens legal action
Pernod Ricard has threatened that if it loses the foreign registrations of the Polmos brands that it currently holds then it will sue for compensation in the European tribunal in Strasbourg. Polmos is attempting to obtain the foreign registration of nearly twenty brands, including well known names such as Wyborowa and Żubrówka. Henryk Tomasik, MD of Polmos Warsaw said that Agros should give up the trademarks and in return Pernod Ricard could receive preference for the purchase of Polmos Poznań. No privatisation of Polmos is likely until the problem is settled and the market value of Polmos, now estimated between PLN2.5bn and PLN3bn, keeps falling. Henryk Tomasik believes that obtaining the foreign registrations could increase the value of the companies by USD500m.
The affair could even take on an international political character. Thierry Jacquillat, MD of Pernod Ricard, believes that if his company loses trademarks for which he claims he paid then Polish entry into the EU could be threatened, at least during the period of the French presidency. These arguments are now being backed by the French embassy. The plot thickens...
Budimex driving ahead
Constructors Budimex, now in the hands of the Spanish Ferrovial, may be able to win general contractor work obtained by its strategic investor in foreign markets. In Poland it is aiming to get a concession for the A4 motorway between Wrocław and Katowice.
Phone concessions may be illegal
A number of constitutional law specialists have argued that more than twenty telephone concessions, worth around PLN2.8bn, were granted illegally. If this view is upheld by the Constitutional Tribunal it will create total chaos in the fixed line telecommunications market.
Investors looking at Hypermedia
It is rumoured that Warsaw web designers Hypermedia are selling forty percent of their stock for around USD1.5m. The buyer could be either American investment bank Wood and Company or Austrian investment fund and incubator red-stars.com.
Breakdown cover soon
Last month the PZM auto insurance company collected its first premiums. By the end of the year it is expecting to collect PLN5m. Furthermore it is in the process of finalising talks with Opel and Volvo concerning roadside breakdown cover.