WARSAW, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Central/Eastern Europe's financial markets on Thursday.
PKN, LOTOS
Poland's two refiners PKN Orlen <PKNA.WA> and Lotos <LTOS.WA> posted weaker-than-expected third-quarter results due to losses on inventory revaluations and foreign currency operations. [
]
PGNIG
Polish gas monopoly PGNiG <PGNI.WA> missed forecasts with a 41 percent drop in third-quarter earnings due to a rise in the costs of gas imported from Russia. [
]
PGE
Polish Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad doesn't expect a sector investor to take stake in a planned intial public offering of the country's largest power company PGE, he told newspaper Rzeczpospolita in an interview.
AGORA
Third-quarter earnings at Poland's Agora <AGOD.WA> nearly halved, missing expectations, as falling circulation and deteriorating newspaper ad market took their toll on the publisher's bottom line. [
]
KRAFT IN ROMANIA
International giant Kraft Foods will shut down its chocolate factory in Romania and lay off its 440 employees next year, saying it can no longer expand at its current location, it said on Wednesday. [
]
CEC CAPITAL INFUSION
Romania's centrist minority government approved on Wednesday a 250 million euro ($316 million) capital infusion for state-controlled CEC Bank to help small enterprises better cope with global financial woes. [
]
UNICREDIT
UniCredit Tiriac Bank recorded a nine-month net profit of 278 million lei ($92.17 million), 31 percent up from the same period a year ago, Ziarul Financiar writes.
OLTCHIM
Chemical plant Oltchim <OLTC.BX> plans to cut activity by 20-40 percent this month because of the world financial crisis which has slashed demand and also tabled plans to sack 500 workers, Ziarul Financiar reports.
UNIPETROL
Operating profit at Czech downstream oil group Unipetrol <
> dropped 24 percent year-on-year in the third quarter to 772 million crowns ($38.45 million), the company said on Thursday. [ ]
SLOVAKIAN UTILITIES
Slovakia risks losing its position as an attractive investment spot due to a law reducing foreign investors' rights in utilities, the German-Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Wednesday. [
]MOODY'S ON POLISH BANKS
The credit outlook for the Polish banking system is negative, reflecting the increased probability that the financial fundamentals of the country's banks will suffer from the ongoing turmoil in the global financial sector, Moody's ratings agency said late on Wednesday. [
]
POLNORD
Poland's property developer Polnord <PNOR.WA> more than tripled its third-quarter net profit to 33 million zlotys ($11.1 million), the company said late on Wednesday. [
]
GTC
Globe Trade Centre (GTC) <GTCE.WA>, a Warsaw-listed real estate company, reported on Wednesday a 53 percent fall in third-quarter net profit due to lower gains on revaluation of its real estate portfolio. [
]
HUNGARIAN BAD DEBTS START TO RISE
The number of Hungarian households that are more than 90 days behind in debt repayments to financial institutions jumped 58 percent to 600,000 in the third quarter. A record 39,000 new entries were registered in July.
MOL, INA
Talks between the Croatian and Hungarian governments on the sale of more INA <INA.ZA> shares to MOL <MOLB.BU> under a share swap agreement have come to a standstill, Napi Gazdasag reports, citing Croatian daily Juternji List.
FOGAZ
Budapest city council is expected to decide at a special session o offer 50 percent stake in local gas distributor Fogaz for sale. The governing Socialist-Liberal coalition says it needs the anticipated 100 billion forints in revenue from the sale of the shares.
MAGYAR TELEKOM
Magyar Telekom is interested in buying the 10 percent stake in Slovenia's Telekom Slovenije, according to reports.
EUROPEAN MARKETS
European shares were set to fall on Thursday, extending a decline into a third day, after Wall Street closed sharply lower and most Asian markets declined.
For the latest news on European markets, double click [
]
WALL STREET
U.S. stocks sank on Wednesday for the third day after the United States backed away from using its $700 billion bailout to mop up sour mortgages and added to uncertainty about how the government plans to revive bank lending.
For latest Wall Street news, double click [
]OTHER EQUITY NEWS Stocks on the move [
] Real-time Equity News [ ] Emerging markets equities [ ] E.Europe equities [ ] Hot stocks [ ] Stock markets [ ] Emerging Europe diaries [ ] European stocks report [ ] Major world stock market performance [ ] FTSE Eurotop 300 index...................< > DJ STOXX index...........................< > Eurotop 300 sector gainers/losers...<.PGL.FTEU3S> Top 25 European pct gainers............<.PG.PEUR> Top 25 European pct losers.............<.PL.PEUR> European Equities speed guide.............<EUR/EQUITY> Pan European indices.....................<EUR/INDICES1> Pan European analysis.....................<EUR/STATS1> REGIONAL INDICES Warsaw WIG20 < > Istanbul ISE National 100 < > Budapest SE Index < > Bucharest Beti < > Prague PX < > Zagreb Crobex < > Sofia Sofix <.SOFIX> Ljubljana SBI20 < > MSCI Global Emerging Markets <.MSCIEF> FTSEurofirst 300 < >