Polish Business Survey
Insurers to kick off next year
Life insurers Concordia Capital, who received an operating licence two weeks ago, announced that they will commence sales of policies in the first quarter of next year. They also claimed that they intend to have the capital value of the company at PLN50m within five years.
Stock market debut for clothiers
Gdańsk clothing manufacturers LPP is to have a stock market debut on the parallel market next month. Funds raised from the initial issue will be used to build a network of stores not only in Poland but throughout Central and Eastern Europe called LPP Fashion Point. However Tomasz Orzeł, analyst at BIG-BG bank thinks that September will be a bad time for the issue. The market is depressed and he thinks that the company should wait before the issue.
Atlantis aims to acquire ConnecTel
Paweł Obrębski, majority shareholder in Atlantis, has announced his intention of linking up with New Zealand based ConnecTel which is currently awaiting a concession for data transmission. Atlantis is also negotiating with potential strategic investors.
Yawal to issue new shares
Management of Częstochowa based aluminium product manufacturer Yawal is to propose its shareholders an issue of between PLN1m - PLN3m worth of stock.
Corus talking to Huta Katowice
Before the end of August an agreement should be signed between Huta Katowice, the largest steel mill in Poland, and the Dutch - British Corus Group, the largest steel producer in Europe and third largest in the world. Corus was formerly British Steel. A joint-venture company will be formed. Last Friday another round of negotiations finished concerning the capital investment needed in HK Long, the second largest company in the Huta Katowice group. Corus has recently announced closures in the UK due to the high price of sterling and wishes to move this production to another country. Therefore negotiations recently gained a new tempo. Figures are not yet available but an investment of around USD500m has been suggested.
A business plan has already been prepared and Corus would obtain another daughter company of Huta Katowice, HK Stal, which will guarantee supplies of steel. The Corus Group is also one of the world s leading producers of aluminium. Its shares are quoted in London, Amsterdam and New York. It is producing in 17 countries and has sales offices in 41. Its annual production is 500,000 tons of aluminium and over 21m tons of steel. As a form of comparison, last year the total production for Poland as a whole was 8.8m tons.
Big plan for Radom
A ten hectare plot in the centre of Radom, 80km to the south of Warsaw, has been earmarked for a hotel and recreation complex. Three investors bid for the use of the land, Apsys, TKD Development and Plaza Centers. It would appear that the latter has won although no confirmation of this was available from Radom city hall.
The plan for the city suggests the construction of an aquapark alongside a hotel and office complex. Construction could begin within the next ten months and last 18 months. The investment will cost between USD20m - USD40m. Plaza Centers (Europe) Group of Companies is a daughter company of the Dutch Plaza Centers (Europe) BV, which is largely owned by the Europe Israel Group of Companies. The company is also investing in Croatia, Rumania, Czech Republic, Greece and Bulgaria. In Poland the company has obtained land in Kraków, Katowice, Poznań, Łódź, Wrocław and Ruda Śląska. Plaza Centers Group is also one of the joint owners of Sadyba Best Mall in Warsaw alongside IT International Theatres.
Poor tourism investment hitting sales
More than one quarter of Poland s foreign earnings come from tourism. Nonetheless revenues have been falling now for two years and despite an up-turn this year, forecasts for next year suggest a fall of 25 percent.
Last year foreigners left PLN13.5bn in Poland, this year the sum could be PLN3bn more. Poland was visited by almost 41m foreigners in the first six months, some 5.8 percent more than in the same period last year.
Statistics are however misleading. In 1999 the number of visitors fell to the levels of 1994 and even if an upturn comes this year, no long term positive trend is visible. Polish travel offices have noted a fall of 15 percent this year. Tourism analysts suggest that the government should take more care of the image that Poland portrays abroad. Most visits are in fact return visits, the number of first timers to Poland is ever dropping.
Next year s budget has allocated PLN39.4m to tourism, some 25 percent less than this year. The Polish tourist organisation POT is claiming that due to lack of funds it will shortly have to close two offices. Poland has eleven such foreign offices, one each in New York and Budapest, the rest are in EU countries.