Poland - Factors to Watch Aug 24
Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Wednesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours):
PZU
Poland's PZU, the biggest insurer in central and eastern Europe, posted a larger-than-expected 56-percent decline in its second-quarter net profit on the back of falling investment income.
PZU also said it plans to increase its banking arm's contribution to its net profit to 450 million zlotys ($117.98 million) in 2020.
PEKAO, PZU, UNICREDIT
Poland is not conducting any negotiations with Italy's biggest bank UniCredit regarding acquisition of its Polish unit Pekao, and any potential deal must be done on market terms, Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.
Separately, Parkiet daily said, quoting unnamed sources that PZU and state-run investment vehicle PFR would like to buy a 33 percent stake in country's No.2 lender Pekao in several tranches. Italian UniCredit owns 40.1 percent stake in Polish lender and PZU expects a 10-percent discount.
GRUPA AZOTY
Grupa Azoty, Poland' largest chemicals maker, posted on Wednesday a bigger-than-expected 65 percent drop in second-quarter net profit on the back of asset value impairment and higher taxes.
DATA
Poland's statistics office to release July unemployment rate at 0800 GMT.
SWISS FRANCS
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of Poland's ruling conservative party Law and Justice (PiS), was quoted as saying by Fakt tabloid that there is no need to convert Swiss franc-denominated credits into zlotys, as credit holders are opposition voters.
2017 DEFICIT
Economists warn that in 2017 Poland's deficit will rise to 3.3-3.5 percent of gross domestic product, much above the European Union's ceiling of 3 percent, Rzeczpospolita daily said.
DIVIDENDS
Listed companies will pay out 16.8 billion zlotys in dividends in 2016, which is a similar amount to the one from 2015, according to KPMG calculations, quoted by Rzeczpospolita.
LAYOFFS IN BANKS
Polish banks have cut headcount by over 2 thousand employees from 172.800 at the start of this year, Gazeta Wyborcza daily said quoting data by the financial market watchdog KNF.
ENEA
The construction of a new 1,075 megawatt coal-fuelled unit at Enea's power plant in Kozienice faces a half-year delay due to technical and organization problems, Gazeta Wyborcza said, quoting the contractors' statement.
****Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.****
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