Top news from Polish politics, economy, business & financial markets - 17:00
Following is a digest of the day's top news as compiled by PAP Market Insider.
BUSINESS & EQUITY MARKET NEWS
RETAIL / STUDENAC - The prospectus for Croatian grocery chain Studenac Group's IPO has set the maximum share price for Polish investors at PLN 14.4 (EUR 3.33). The group will offer 24.1 million new shares and 31.1 million existing shares in the IPO, the company wrote in its prospectus.
BANKING / mBANK - Listed lender mBank has decided to update the group's capital management strategy and the document assumes that no dividend will be paid from the profit earned by the bank in 2025, the company said in a market filing.
BANKING - Poland's state bank guarantee fund BFG assumes a total level of contributions due from lenders to BFG in 2025 of around PLN 3 billion (EUR 692.7 mln), more or less equally for the guarantee and forced restructuring funds, the head of BFG Maciej Szczesny told PAP Biznes.
CONSTRUCTION / UNIBEP - Listed builder Unibep posted revenue of PLN 1.83 billion (EUR 422.4 mln) and net profit of PLN 106 million (EUR 24.5 mln) after three quarters of 2024, in line with earlier estimates, according to the company's quarterly report. The order backlog amounts to approximately PLN 3.5 billion (EUR 807.8 mln) and the value of pending contracts is about PLN 500 million (EUR 115.4 mln).
HEALTH INSURANCE - Polish Ministry of Finance estimates that changes to health insurance contributions for businesses will cost PLN 4.6 billion (EUR 1.1 bln) in 2026. The government plans to discuss these changes at an upcoming meeting.
RETAIL / STUDENAC - The prospectus for Croatian grocery chain Studenac Group's IPO has set the maximum share price for Polish investors at PLN 14.4 (EUR 3.33). The group will offer 24.1 million new shares and 31.1 million existing shares in the IPO, the company wrote in its prospectus.
ENERGY - The Polish government has adopted a law to freeze electricity prices for households in 2025, Minister of Climate and Environment Paulina Henning-Kloska informed on X.
TRANSPORTATION - Poland's Ministry of Infrastructure is working on unifying the system of statutory concessions in rail, bus and water transport, the ministry said in a reply to a parliamentary question.
AVERAGE SHOPPING BASKET - The average price of a shopping basket in Poland decreased by PLN 20.28 (EUR 4.68) month on month in October to PLN 288.99 (EUR 66.7), the research agency ASM SFA reported.
HEALTH INSURANCE - The Polish government has adopted a draft law lowering the health insurance premium for entrepreneurs, it was stated on X on the profile of ruling coalition party Poland2050, which submitted the draft.
ELECTRICITY - Electricity in Polish homes will not become more expensive in 2025 - we are freezing energy prices for nine months during this period, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said before a Cabinet meeting. The government is to adopt a draft law providing for a maximum price of electricity for households at PLN 500 (EUR 115.40) per MWh by the end of September 2025.
ENGINEERING / APATOR - Listed metering equipment maker Apator assumes that CAPEX in 2025 will be slightly higher than in 2024. This year, capital expenditures are planned at the level of PLN 60-70 million (EUR 13.8.-16.2 mln), the company's representatives told a videoconference.
ELECTRICITY - The maximum price of electricity for households is to be maintained at PLN 500 (EUR 115.40) per MWh next year, while the maximum price for non-household consumers is to be abandoned, according to the draft law of Poland's Ministry of Climate and Environment (MKiS). Its cost is approximately PLN 5 billion (EUR 1.2 bln).
CURRENCY EXCHANGE - Online currency exchange will only be allowed to be operated by payment service providers, Poland's Ministry of Finance has stated in a letter to the Ombudsman.
REAL ESTATE / DOM DEVELOPMENT - Listed real estate developer Dom Development believes that housing demand has a solid foundation to sustain itself, despite the cooling of the market through 2024, the management representatives told a videoconference.
REAL ESTATE / DOM DEVELOPMENT - Listed real estate developer Dom Development believes that the prospects for improving gross sales margins in the coming quarters are positive, management representatives told a videoconference. The group estimates the handover potential for 2025 at more than 4,500 units.
FINTECH / REVOLUT - Digital financial platform and mobile application Revolut has exceeded 4 million customers in Poland, next year it wants to have 5 million, the company announced in a press release.
MOBILE PAYMENTS / BLIK - BLIK mobile payments is maintaining the target of completing 2.5 billion transactions by the end of 2024, Monika Krol, deputy CEO of Polski Standard Platnosci PSP, the operator of the BLIK mobile payment system, told a press conference. In the third quarter of 2024, BLIK users completed 625.5 million transactions.
WHITE GOODS / AMICA - Listed white goods producer Amica has signed agreements with the trade union of employees on collective redundancies, the company announced in a market filing. The parties agreed that the redundancies would cover 39 employees of the company.
REAL ESTATE / ATAL - Listed housing developer Atal has launched sales of 290 flats which it will build in a seventh phase of the Francuska Park development in Katowice, Atal said in a press release.
FINANCIAL MARKETS
T-BONDS - Poland will offer for sale PLN 5-8 billion (EUR 1.15-1.85 bln) in Treasury bonds of series: OK0127, DS0727, PS0130, WZ0330, DS0432, DS1034 and IZ0836 at a regular auction on Thursday, November 21, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
FX - The Polish zloty weakened to 4.328 against the euro on Tuesday at 16:58 local time.
ECONOMIC & FINANCIAL NEWS
HICP INFLATION - Poland's harmonized annual HICP inflation stayed flat at 4.2 percent year on year in October, the same as in September, and edged up by 0.3 percent month on month, the European stats office Eurostat reported.
INTEREST RATE, OPINION - There is a prospect of an interest rate cut, despite looser fiscal policy, and March will be the first month for a possible discussion on the subject, Poland's Monetary Policy Council member Henryk Wnorowski told Radio Bialystok.
INTEREST RATE, OPINION - Polish government’s decision to freeze electricity prices in 2025 is projected to lower the Consumer Price Index (CPI) trajectory by 0.2-0.3 percentage points, with a peak inflation rate of approximately 5.5 percent expected in March, according to analysts from PKO BP.
TAX PROVISIONS - Dozens of Polish parent companies and 7,000-8,000 subsidiaries will be covered by the minimum tax provisions, Grant Thornton estimates.
SOCIAL SECURITY - Poland recorded an increase in the number of foreigners insured with social security ZUS to 1,191,000 at the end of October from 1,177,000 at end-September, Poland's social insurer ZUS reported on Tuesday.
POLITICAL & GOVERNMENT NEWS
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