Polish Business Survey
Into the abyss
The Friday before last was the crown on a successful week, last Friday was the crown on an unsuccessful week. Yet again telecommunications companies led the slide into the abyss as the WIG index fell below the 18,000 mark. Where the abyss lies still cannot be foreseen, demonstrated by the low turnover. Unless some foreign buyers come to the rescue the slide will go on and on and on and onÉ
PKP to buy new engines
It is expected that a contract will be signed between Wrocław based Adtranz Pafawag and PKP concerning the sale of 35 engines around 10 August. The contract is worth PLN650m, which PKP is expecting to find through credits.
Electricity raise sought
The Będzin BZE power station has requested the permission of the energy watchdog URE to raise its prices. The company is currently buying around 70 percent of its supply from the national grid and prices, it claims, went up by 80 percent on 1 June.
BZE is supplying the Huta Katowice steelworks and several mines with power. BZE is currently one of the cheapest suppliers of electricity in Poland although management is now claiming that without the increases then it will not be able to continue, as it cannot sell at a loss.
Italians interested in Słupsk
The Italian bus manufacturer Cacciamali from Brescia has announced its intention to get a 25 percent share from the treasury of Słupsk based Kapena. It is possible that the deal might even go through in September, which would give the Italians 85 percent of the company. Employees hold a 15 percent share, which the Italians also might buy.
The Italians bought their initial share in the company last March when they began the production of a new line of buses for both urban and long distance routes. Clients are foreseen in Poland and in the former USSR although none have been exported so far.
The company employs 250 people although management is trying to restructure by retraining office staff for the production line. In Italy four buses are produced annually for each worker, the Słupsk plant also hopes to reach these high goals
Scania finishes factory
At the end of next month the production of lorries and buses will commence in the enlarged section of the Scania Kapena works in Słupsk.
This will allow monthly production to increase from the present 160 to between 200 and 250.
Scania has also announced that it intends to build three more service stations in Poland to add to the 24 it already owns.
Scania has so far invested around USD30m in Poland. Globally Scania is one of the largest producers of buses, coaches, lorries and marine engines in the world. Turnover exceeds SEK47.1bn and it employs 25,800 people, largely in Europe and North America.
Austrians move on Kujawiak
It would appear that the Austrian Brau-Union is about to increase its 24 percent holding in the Bydgoszcz Kujawiak brewery. The Austrians could well be about to completely buy the brewery for around PLN82m from Tele Tech Investment who has over a 75 percent share of the company.
Kujawiak has earmarked over DEM5m to increase its annual production to over 65m litres of beer this year and future investment could see 86m litres produced in 2002 and over 100m sometime in the future.
Brau-Union follows a policy of getting 100 percent control of companies, as was the case with Rzeszów based Van Pura and will probably be the case with the Warsaw BW brewery.
Kujawiak has a strong regional position taking 60 percent of the market in the city of Bydgoszcz and 35 percent in the province. In the last two years Kujawiak has increased its overall national share from 1.8 percent to over 2.1 percent. Brau-Union would no doubt like to increase this share by pushing the brand on a nationwide level.
Orfe seeks acquisitions
Pharmaceutical distributor Orfe has announced that it is going to bid for Cefarm Zielona Góra which will be privatised in the coming weeks and attempt to obtain both Cefarm Warszawa and Cefarm Łódź in the autumn. Orfe has set aside up to PLN70m for the purchases, although MD, Andrzej Stachnik, thinks he can put his hands on a lot more money if need be. If Orfe can obtain all three of these companies it would have a 15 percent share of the pharmaceuticals industry which is growing by ten percent each year.
Two months ago Orfe received the approval of the treasury to obtain Cefarm Rzeszów which Stachnik claims will require a lot of incestment to improve storage and IT back-up.