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1207 GMT 08July2008 - KGHM, TPSA push Warsaw into positive territory
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Polish copper miner KGHM <KGHM.WA> and phone company TPSA <TPSA.WA> lead
Warsaw shares into positive territory in early afternoon as prospects for stock
buyback and dividend lurred investors back into beaten-down stocks.
Warsaw's blue-chip WIG20 <> index up 0.4 percent, TPSA and KGHM gain
3.1 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.
KGHM, copper miner with largest European output, will start trading without
the right to its 1.8 billion zlotys dividend on Wednesday.
"KGHM is dramatically undervalued compared to its foreign peers," said Adam
Gawlik, fund manager at PZU Asset Management in Warsaw.
"TPSA is supported by a planned share buyback and it is generally seen as a
neutral defensive stock," he added.
Reuters Messaging rm://piotr.skolimowski.reuters.com@reuters.net
1024 GMT 08July2008 - Cersanit drops on record zloty, rising costs
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Poland's largest bathroom fittings maker Cersanit <CRSA.WA> tumbles nearly
7.0 percent to levels last seen in the first quarter of 2006, on worries over
record-high zloty and higher costs weigh on margins.
Cersanit, which exports around 40 percent of its production of tiles and
bathroom ware, is vulnerable to a strong local currency which raises costs of
imported materials, in turn weighing on margins. It sells a fifth of production
in dollars.
"The company is in a downward trend due to rising costs of debt, financial
costs and a strong zloty," said Radoslaw Lukaszczuk, analyst at Millennium
brokerage in Warsaw.
"Its recent decline is also due to the expected rise in gas prices in
Ukraine, where Cersanit wants to open its factories, as it uses gas to burn out
tiles."
Reuters Messaging rm://adrian.krajewski.reuters.com@reuters.net
0935 GMT 08July2008 - NWR shares powered higher by Citigroup "buy" rating
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New World Resources (NWR) <NWRSsp.PR> gains more than 6 percent after
Citigroup raises the Czech coal miner to 'buy' from 'hold'.
NWR shares trade 6.1 percent at 478 crowns, while Prague's PX index dips 0.3
percent.
"The Citigroup note is definitely helping and investors are reacting to
this," says Martin Stuchlik, a trader at Patria Finance.
Shares in NWR fell to levels earlier this week last seen after its May 6
share listing, battered by falling commodity prices. The company had traded as
much 40 percent above its May 6 close in mid-June.
Reuters Messaging rm://jason.hovet.reuters.com@reuters.net
0930 GMT 08July2008 - INA gains on OMV interest
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INA <INA.ZA> <HINAq.L> jumps 5.6 percent to 3,003.01 kuna ($652.3) by 0920
GMT on Thursday after Austria's oil company OMV <OMVV.VI) expresses interest in
the oil and gas group in a letter to the Croatian government.
A government official confirmed to Reuters that OMV had sent a letter on
Wednesday inquiring about further INA privatisation, but declined to give any
details.
"The rise of INA share price is a consequence of fresh developments related
to further privatisation, including OMV's letter to the government," said Maja
Barac, an analyst at Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank.
INA had gained 6.2 percent on Wednesday.
Reuters Messaging rm://igor.ilic.reuters.com@reuters.net
0920 GMT 08July2008 - Polnord falls on sentiment despite upbeat forecast
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Shares in Polish builder Polnord <PNOR.WA> fall 2.5 percent
as a negative sentiment towards the real estate sector
outweighed the company's upbeat first-half gross profit
estimate.
Polnord's chief executive said he expected a first-half
gross profit of around 100 million zlotys ($47.8 million).
"News on results may be positive, but a negative sentiment
towards the developer sector remains more important a factor,"
said Tomasz Dudz, trader at DI BRE brokerage in Warsaw.
Reuters Messaging
rm://adrian.krajewski.reuters.com@reuters.net
