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Egyptian stocks slide after OCI fails to bottom out

Reuters: [2008-05-14 15:16:00]

CAIRO, May 14 (Reuters) - The two main Egyptian stock indexes fell again on Wednesday when investors saw that shares in Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) <OCIC.CA> <OCICq.L> had not yet bottomed out, brokers said.

OCI and sister company Orascom Telecom <ORTE.CA> <ORTEq.L> have been among the major factors behind a correction which has now run seven straight sessions, driven by investor worries about inflation and government policies, they added.

The benchmark CASE 30 index <.CASE30> slipped 0.7 percent to 10,665.82 points and the widely watched Hermes <.HRMS> ended the day 1 percent down at 92,065.42. The two indexes have fallen around 11 percent since peaking in late April or early May.

Foreigners continue to be net sellers, by a margin of 120 million Egyptian pounds ($22 million), the stock exchange said.

OCI, a big fertiliser producer hit by a government decision to raise gas price for energy-intensive industries, lost 7.1 percent to last trade at 353 pounds. In April, it stood at 485.

"When people saw that the selling in OCI hadn't finished, it went from 390 to as low as 350. It took everyone off guard," said Yasser Hassanein of Dynamic Securities.

But Orascom Telecom (OT) drifted slowly upward and the market received a last-minute boost when the company confirmed that it will go ahead with a buyback of up to 106 million shares -- 10.3 percent of the total -- even though the current share price is more than 2 percent below the 83 pound offer price.

"That calmed a lot of nerves. It came on screen a minute before the close. There was no time to respond," Hassanein said.

The buyback, with a potential value of over 8 billion pounds, could bring fresh cash to the market, and the main indexes have slipped toward important support levels, suggesting that the decline may not last, brokers said.

OT shares last traded 0.6 percent higher at 79.76 pounds.

Commercial International Bank (CIB) <COMI.CA> <COMIq.L>, which announced that lengthy merger talks with Arab African International Bank had ended without agreement, closed 3.0 percent down at 79.50 pounds.

"There is still plenty of weakness around. There was no conviction among investors," said Bassim Arida, head of the foreign desk at CIBC brokerage.

The broader CIBC index <.CIBC> rose 0.3 percent to 534.38 points. ($1 = 5.35 Egyptian pounds) (Writing by Jonathan Wright) ((jonathan.wright@thomsonreuters.com; +20 2 2578 3290/1; Reuters Messaging: jonathan.wright.reuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: MARKETS EGYPT CLOSER/

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FACTBOX-Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Reuters: [2008-05-14 13:41:00]

May 14 (Reuters) - Power shortages threaten to slow mining development in Congo and drive up project costs in one of the world's richest copper and cobalt regions. [ID:nL14775869]

Here are details of some of the main projects in Democratic Republic of Congo and the companies running them.

ANGLO AMERICAN <AAL.L> <AGLJ.J>

The world's fourth biggest mining group by market capitalisation has opened offices in the capital Kinshasa as well as the city of Lubumbashi in the country's copper belt.

Anglo will be exploring in Congo and at least seven other African nations to look for large base metals deposits. Chief Executive Cynthia Carroll said in February the company would jack up its exploration budget on the continent by 30 percent this year.

AFRICO RESOURCES <ARL.TO>

Canadian company Africo is seeking to develop the Kalukundi copper-cobalt project, but its ownership of the project has been disputed by Akam Mining.

In September, the firm said Congo's justice minister supported its ownership position and in November the IFC, the World Bank's private sector investment arm, said it planned to buy C$4 million in Africo shares to help finance the project.

ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI <ANGJ.J>

The world's third-biggest gold producer has been drilling for gold at Mongbwalu in northeastern Ituri since 2005.

AngloGold said in February that it had completed a conceptual economic study for the deposit, which has an initial inferred resource of 2.9 million ounces of gold.

ANVIL MINING <AVM.TO> <AVM.AX>

Anvil has majority stakes in three mines in Katanga province that produce copper and silver -- Kinsevere, Dikulushi and Kulu.

Anvil produced 47,633 tonnes of copper and a record 2.45 million ounces of silver in DRC in 2007.

Its 2008 production forecast for silver is almost half that, at 1.3 million ounces, though copper output is seen at 55,000 tonnes. The company has previously said it aims to increase output to 100,000 tonnes of copper by 2010.

BANRO CORPORATION <BAA.TO>

Toronto-listed Banro has four gold properties comprising 13 exploitation permits in the South Kivu and Maniema provinces.

Measured and indicated resources across the Twangiza, Kamituga, Lugushwa and Nomaya properties total 4.81 million ounces of gold.

BHP BILLITON <BLT.L><BHP.AX>

BHP, the world's largest diversified miner, is exploring for copper and diamonds in Congo.

Last year, it also said it was in the "early stages" of looking at an aluminium smelter project in the country.

CENTRAL AFRICAN MINING AND EXPLORATION CO (CAMEC) <CFM.L>

CAMEC restarted work in February at the Mukondo Mountain project, which it says is the richest cobalt mine in the world, after halting it in early 2007. CAMEC aims for initial output of 400 tonnes of cobalt per month, rising to 1,000 per month by end of the year.

In March, CAMEC said it had reached a deal to give state-run mining group Gecamines a 30 percent stake in the mine, retaining the remaining 70 percent.

The company targeted production of 40,000 tonnes copper and 6,000 tonnes cobalt from its Luita processing plant in the year to end-March 2008, rising to 100,000 tonnes of copper and 12,000 tonnes cobalt by the end of that year.

CHEMAF

The privately-owned Congolese company which owns the licence for the Etoile mine, estimated to hold 682,041 tonnes of copper and 108,951 tonnes of cobalt, and the yet unworked Makala deposit.

It also controls the Kananga concession in joint venture with state miner Gecamines and has said it wants to begin industrial mining operations at the Makala and Kananga mines.

It owns a cobalt processing plant in Lubumbashi and also plans a facility to produce copper cathode.

CHINA SUN GROUP <CSGH.OB>

The China Sun Group, formerly known as Capital Resource Funding Corp, signed a contract last year to buy the prospecting and mining rights to a cobalt mine in Lubumbashi.

It signed the deal through its subsidiary Dalian Xinyang High-Tech Development (DLX), one of the largest Chinese cobalt producers.

DLX will own 80 percent of the mined cobalt and Shengbao Group will own the remainder. DLX plans to launch construction of a processing plant in early 2008 to produce finished cobalt products from raw ore on-site, the firm said.

COPPER RESOURCES CORP <CRC.L>

Copper Resources holds a 75 percent stake in the three MMK deposits, which together contain an estimated 5.3 billion lbs of copper. South African Metorex <MTXJ.J> owns 45.6 percent of CRC.

The Kinsenda and Musoshi mines were first mined from 1968, but were abandoned and are flooded. A bankable feasibility study estimated that the Kinsenda project would cost $93 million in financing. Lubembe is a greenfields exploration property.

FIRST QUANTUM <FM.TO><FQM.L>

The company said in January it expects its new Frontier copper mine, which launched operations late in 2007, to produce 84,000 tonnes in 2008.

First Quantum plans to start production from its Kolwezi copper-cobalt tailings project in Katanga in early 2010 with initial output of 35,000 tonnes of copper and 7,000 tonnes of cobalt per year for capital expenditure of $593 million, rising later to 70,000 tonnes of copper and 14,000 tonnes of cobalt a year.

FREEPORT MCMORAN COPPER & GOLD <FCX.N>

Freeport acquired a 57.75 percent stake in the Tenke Fungurume copper and cobalt project, one of the world's largest, when it bought Phelps Dodge for $25.9 billion in 2007.

Lundin said in April the capital cost estimates had almost doubled to $1.75 billion from previous estimate of $900 million, made in October 2007.

Initial production of 115,000 tonnes of copper and 8,000 tonnes of cobalt per year is targeted to start in the second half of 2009, rising to 400,000 T copper and 30,000 T cobalt by 2015.

KATANGA MINING <KAT.TO>

Katanga agreed a friendly deal in November 2007 worth over $2.0 billion to buy rival Nikanor to create Africa's biggest copper producer by 2011, combining copper/cobalt projects the two firms had been developing in the same area of the copperbelt near the town of Kolwezi.

The combined company has revised down its projected output to "over 300,000 tonnes of refined copper and over 30,000 tonnes of cobalt" a year from initial targets of 400,000 tonnes of copper and 40,000 tonnes of cobalt.

LUNDIN MINING <LUN.TO>

Lundin owns a 24.75 percent stake in the Tenke Fungurume copper-cobalt deposit in the DRC, majority-owned by Freeport McMoRan.

METOREX <MTXJ.J>

Johannesburg-listed Metorex has an 80 percent stake in Ruashi Mining, which has the rights to process the ore stockpiles on the Ruashi and Etoile mines, and the right to exploit the Ruashi orebody. Gecamines owns 20 percent of the company.

Metorex said in April that the Ruashi II project had produced its first copper on March 31, and ramp-up was expected to take place in the 10 months from April 1. Capacity is 45,000 tonnes of copper and 3,500 tonnes of cobalt.

Metorex also has a 45.6 percent stake in Copper Resources Corp, which has projects in the DRC.

MOTO GOLDMINES <MGL.TO><MGLq.L>

The firm is seeking to develop the Moto gold project in a joint venture with Congo's state-owned gold company OKIMO, which has a 30 percent stake in the project and holds the mineral rights.

The project has indicated mineral resources of 10.3 million ounces of gold and a definitive feasibility study was completed in December 2007, which the firm said demonstrated the project's long life.

Moto said in February the government has requested a renegotiation of its mining contracts and that it would hold discussions with OKIMO.

MWANA AFRICA <MWA.L>

London-listed Mwana, formerly African Gold, owns 80 percent of Kilo Moto, an exploration licence for gold in the northeast of the country.

Last year, it took over Gravity Diamonds, which is exploring a large diamond concession in Kasai province.

In 2006, it bought Umicore <ACUMt.BR> subsidiary Sibeka, owner of a 20 percent stake in DRC diamond miner MIBA, which produces an average of 6 million carats of diamonds per year.

It also owns the Katanga copper concessions, which is subject to a joint venture exploration option agreement with Anglo American <AAL.L>.

OM GROUP <OMG.N>

U.S. based speciality chemicals maker OM Group is majority owner of the Big Hill cobalt smelter in Lubumbashi. After smelting in the Congo, cobalt is sent to OMG's refinery in Kokkola, Finland. Other partners in the smelter are Gecamines and George Forrest Group.

TEAL EXPLORATION AND MINING <TL.TO> <TELJ.J>

Teal is operating the Kalumines copper and cobalt mine, of which it has a 60 percent stake. In February it said the mine was targeting 24,500 tonnes per year of contained copper.

The firm plans a feasibility study late in 2008 to boost output to 40,000 tonnes a year. It also has a furnace that produces 5,000 tonnes a year of blister copper.

(Sources: Reuters, company websites, stock exchange announcements)

(Reporting by Eric Onstad and Daniel Magnowski in London and Joe Bavier in Kinshasa; editing by Chris Johnson) ((eric.onstad@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 7093; Reuters Messaging: eric.onstad.reuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: CONGO DEMOCRATIC MINING

Keywords: CONGO DEMOCRATIC MINING

Keywords: CONGO DEMOCRATIC MINING

DIARY - Greece to June 12, 2008

Reuters: [2008-05-14 10:36:00]

This diary is updated daily and new listings or amendments 
are marked "*". All times are provisional and in GMT; +3 to get 
Greek time. 
_____________________________________________________________ 
DATE  GMT/LOCAL INDICATOR             PERIOD F/CAST  PRIOR 
------------------------------------------------------------- 
14/05    NA     Unemployment (monthly)      Feb         8.0% 
15/05    NA     GDP (est.)                  Q1          3.6% 
22/05    NA     Cbank C/A                   Mar      -1.843b 
29/05    NA     PPI                         Apr              
30/05    NA     Retail Sales                Mar              
 
 
WEDNESDAY, MAY 14 
GENERAL/ECONOMIC EVENTS 
   *GREECE - Queen of Spain Sofia pays visit. Through May 17. 
    ATHENS - Corinth Pipeworks <CORr.AT> and Sidenor <SID.AT> 
hold company presentation, at the Institutional Investors 
Association.  
 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
14/05   1400  Hellenic Exchange<EXCr.AT>     AGM 
14/05   0900  ATEbank          <AGBr.AT>     AGM 
14/05   1000  S&B              <BARr.AT>     AGM 
14/05   1330  Bank of Cyprus   <BOCr.AT>     AGM 
14/05   1000  Forthnet         <FORr.AT>     EGM 
14/05   1000  Hellenic Petrol  <HEPr.AT>     AGM 
14/05   NA    Piraeus Bank     <BOPr.AT>     Q1 results 
 
 
THURSDAY, MAY 15 
GENERAL/ECONOMIC EVENTS 
    GREECE - Employees at OTE <OTEr.AT>, Piraeus Port <OLPr.AT> 
and Thessaloniki Port <OLTr.AT> hold 24hour strike, employees at 
Public Power Corp. <DEHr.AT>, Hellenic Post, Olympic Airlines 
and Athens Water <EYDr.AT> hold 3hour work stoppage, while 
public sector workers hold work stoppage from 0800 GMT till the 
end of the working day to protest against the government's 
privatisation agenda and social security reforms. Bank employees 
hold 24-hour nationwide strike to demand the signing of the 
collective wage deal.  
 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
15/05   1400  Persefs          <PRSr.AT>     AGM 
15/05   0930  Metka            <MTKr.AT>     AGM 
15/05   1400  Marfin Popular   <MRBr.AT>     AGM 
15/05   1200  Teletypos        <TELr.AT>     AGM 
15/05   1000  National Bank    <NBGr.AT>     RGM 
 
 
FRIDAY, MAY 16 
GENERAL/ECONOMIC EVENTS 
    *ATHENS - Economist Conferences organises Defence and 
Security Summit on "The outlook for stability in SE Europe and 
the Middle East", at Sofitel hotel.  
 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
16/05   0900  FHL Mermeren     <FHL.AT>      AGM 
16/05   0900  Bank of Attica   <BOAr.AT>     EGM 
16/05   1200  Post Savings Bank<GPSr.AT>     RGM 
 
 
SUNDAY, MAY 18 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
18/05   0700  ANEK Lines       <ANKr.AT>     AGM 
 
 
MONDAY, MAY 19 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
19/05   1400  Plaisio          <PLAr.AT>     AGM 
19/05   1100  Euromedica       <EMDr.AT>     AGM 
19/05   1400  Blue Star Ferries<STR.AT>      AGM 
19/05   1300  Axon Holdings    <AXOr.AT>     AGM 
19/05   1300  Benrubis         <BENr.AT>     RGM 
 
 
TUESDAY, MAY 20 
GENERAL/ECONOMIC EVENTS 
    BULGARIA - Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis pays two-day 
visit, to attend South East Europe Cooperation Process summit. 
 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
20/05   1200  Nireus Aqua      <NIRr.AT>     AGM 
20/05   0600  Petzetakis       <PETr.AT>     AGM 
20/05   1400  Sarantis         <SRSr.AT>     AGM 
20/05   1300  Infoquest        <IQTr.AT>     AGM 
20/05   1000  Titan            <TTNr.AT>     AGM 
20/05   NA    Jumbo            <BABr.AT>     9-month results 
 
 
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21 
GENERAL/ECONOMIC EVENTS 
    ATHENS - Yalco <YAL.AT> holds company presentation, at the 
Institutional Investors Association. 
 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
21/05   1100  Logismos         <MCLr.AT>     AGM 
21/05   1400  Active           <ACTr.AT>     AGM 
21/05   0600  Frigoglass       <FRIr.AT>     Q1 results 
 
 
THURSDAY, MAY 22 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
22/05   1100  Kego             <KEGr.AT>     AGM 
22/05   0900  Reds             <CAMr.AT>     AGM 
22/05   0730  Microland        <MCRr.AT>     AGM 
22/05   0900  Lambrakis        <DOLr.AT>     AGM 
22/05   1000  Lamda Developm.  <LMDr.AT>     AGM 
22/05   0630  Singularlogic    <LDSr.AT>     RGM 
 
 
FRIDAY, MAY 23 
GENERAL/ECONOMIC EVENTS 
    ATHENS - Alpha Grissin <CSSr.AT> holds company presentation, 
at the Institutional Investors Association.  
 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
23/05   1400  Proton Bank      <PRBr.AT>     AGM 
23/05   1200  Hellenic Fabric  <HFAr.AT>     AGM 
23/05   0530  Pouliadis        <POUr.AT>     RGM 
 
 
SATURDAY, MAY 24 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
24/05   0800  Karatzi          <KRTr.AT>     AGM 
24/05   0600  Vardas           <VRDr.AT>     AGM 
 
 
MONDAY, MAY 26 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
26/05   1400  MIG              <MRFr.AT>     AGM 
26/05   1400  ATEbank          <AGBr.AT>     Q1 results 
26/05   NA    OPAP             <OPAr.AT>     Q1 results 
 
 
TUESDAY, MAY 27 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
27/05   NA    Folli Follie     <FOLr.AT>     Q1 results 
27/05   NA    Fourlis          <FRLr.AT>     Q1 results 
 
 
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28 
GENERAL/ECONOMIC EVENTS 
    ATHENS - Profile <PRFr.AT> holds company presentation, at 
the Institutional Investors Association. 
     
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
28/05   1200  Omega            <ASRr.AT>     AGM 
28/05   NA    Bank of Cyprus   <BOCr.AT>     Q1 results 
 
 
THURSDAY, MAY 29 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
29/05   1100  Autohellas       <AUTr.AT>     AGM 
29/05   1300  Nexans           <ALCr.AT>     AGM 
29/05   0930  Motor Oil        <MORr.AT>     AGM 
29/05   0900  Fashion Box      <BOXr.AT>     AGM 
29/05   NA    OTE              <OTEr.AT>     Q1 results 
 
 
FRIDAY, MAY 30 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
30/05   0700  Maxim-Pertsinidis<MAXIM.AT>    AGM 
30/05   0900  Reds             <CAMr.AT>     AGM 
30/05   0900  HDFS             <HDFr.AT>     AGM 
30/05   0730  Microland        <MCRr.AT>     AGM 
30/05   1100  Mytilineos       <MYTr.AT>     EGM 
30/05   0700  Motodynamics     <MTDr.AT>     AGM 
 
 
MONDAY, JUNE 2 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
02/06   0800  Athens Water     <EYDr.AT>     AGM 
02/06   0600  Elve             <ELBr.AT>     AGM 
02/06   0900  Euroconsultants  <ERCr.AT>     AGM 
 
 
TUESDAY, JUNE 3 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
03/06   1130  Alfa-Beta Vassil.<ABVr.AT>     AGM 
 
 
THURSDAY, JUNE 5 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
05/06   1000  C.Rokas          <ARCr.AT>     AGM 
 
 
FRIDAY, JUNE 6 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
06/06   0900  GEKE             <GKE.AT>      AGM 
06/06   0800  Alumil           <ALMr.AT>     AGM 
 
GOVERNMENT DEBT ISSUES 
Date   GMT   City    Event 
06/06  NA    Athens  PDMA announces amount for 5-year  
                     bond auction 
 
 
TUESDAY, JUNE 10 
GOVERNMENT DEBT ISSUES 
Date   GMT   City    Event 
10/06  NA    Athens  PDMA re-opens 5-year bond 
 
 
THURSDAY, JUNE 12 
EQUITIES 
Date    GMT   Company Name      RIC          Event 
12/06   0800  Public Power Corp<DEHr.AT>     AGM 
12/06   1100  Sidma            <SDMr.AT>     AGM 
 
((Athens Newsroom +30 210 3311813, fax +30 210 3311829, 
athens.newsroom@news.reuters.com, tatiana.fragou@reuters.com)) 
    * NOTE: The inclusion of diary items does not necessarily 
mean that Reuters will file a story based on the event. 
    INDEX OF DIARIES - double-click on [IND/DIARY] 
  

GREECE - Factors to Watch on May 14

Reuters: [2008-05-14 09:02:00]

    ATHENS, May 14 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press 
reports and events which may affect Greek financial markets on 
Wednesday: 
     
    GREEK Q1 GDP GROWTH UNCHANGED AT 3.6 PCT-FINMIN 
    Greece's economy grew at a 3.6 percent annual pace in the 
first quarter of 2008, unchanged from the previous quarter, the 
Greek Finance Minister said on Tuesday.[ID:nL13256585] 
     
    GREEKS TO STRIKE AGAINST PRIVATISATIONS ON MAY 15 
    Greece's largest union grouping called for a nationwide 
strike to take place on Thursday to protest against government 
privatisation plans, with transport, ports, hospitals and banks 
likely to be worst hit.[ID:nL13747129] 
     
    GREECE'S HYGEIA MED GROUP Q1 NET GROWS 1.4 PCT 
    Greek medical centre Hygeia <HYGr.AT> said on Tuesday 
first-quarter net profit rose 1.4 percent, weighed by funding 
costs related to its expansion abroad.[ID:nL13644582] 
     
    GREEK UPGRADE NEEDS PUBLIC FINANCE PROGRESS-FITCH 
    Fitch ratings agency kept Greece's A rating on Tuesday 
citing robust growth compared with euro zone peers but said more 
needed to be done on public finances to win an 
upgrade.[ID:nL13934794] 
     
    GREEK GOVERNMENT BOND TRADE VOLUME RISES IN APRIL 
    The volume of Greek government debt traded on the central 
bank's electronic system (HDAT) rose to 17.68 billion euros in 
April from 8.62 billion in March, the Bank of Greece said on 
Tuesday.[ID:nL13921469] 
     
    GREECE'S INTRALOT SIGNS OHIO LOTTERY DEAL 
    Greek lottery systems supplier Intralot <INLr.AT> said on 
Tuesday it signed a two-year contract to operate Ohio Lottery's 
gaming system, in its sixth deal in the U.S. market. 
[ID:nL13893542] 
     
    INTRACOM TELECOM SIGNS 40 MLN EURO SYRIAN DEAL 
    Greek telecoms equipment maker Intracom Telecom said on 
Tuesday it signed a 40 million euro ($61.82 million) contract to 
supply the Syrian Wireless Organization (SWO) with a wireless 
communications network.[ID:nL13474510] 
     
    GREECE SLIPS IN WORLD COMPETITIVENESS RANKING 
    Greece slipped six positions in a ranking assessing the 
country's international competitivness to position number 42, 
reported financial daily Naftemporiki. www.naftemporiki.gr 
     
    For other related news, double click on: 
---------------------------------------------------------- 
 EUR Money Guide     <EUR/1>        Greek Debt News [DBT-GR] 
 Greek Equities Guide <GR/EQUITY>   Greece's Debt   <GR/DEBT> 
 Greek Economic Indicators [ECI-GR]  Government Debt  <GR/GOVT1> 
 Greek Stock News    [STX-GR]    Greek Money News    [M-GR] 
 Greek Exchange Info <GR/EXCH1> 
--------------------------------------------------------- 
 ((Reporting by Stelios Bouras; +30210 3376469; fax +30210 
3311829/39; e-mail: athens.newsroom@news.reuters.com)) 
  Keywords: GREECE FACTORS 
    

Poland - Factors to Watch on May 14

Reuters: [2008-05-14 08:08:00]

    WARSAW, May 14 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press 
reports and events to watch which may affect Poland's financial 
markets on Wednesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hour): 
     
    PGNiG BEATS FORECASTS 
    Poland's dominant gas group PGNiG <PGNI.WA> reported a 
smaller-than-expected 1-percent fall in quarterly earnings on 
Wednesday as the strong performance of its distribution unit 
helped to make up for a price hike delay.   [nL14730339] 
     
    2009 BUDGET DEFICIT AT 14.5 BLN ZLOTYS? 
    Poland plans to cut its 2009 budget deficit to 14.5 billion 
zlotys ($6.62 billion) from the expected 27 billion this year, 
reports Rzeczpospolita daily without citing sources. 
     
    HSBC RAISES AGORA 
    HSBC raised Polish media group Agora <AGOD.WA> to 
'overweight' from 'underweight'.            
     
    NEW OLD HEAD AT POLKOMTEL 
    Poland's No. 2 cellphone operator Polkomtel said its former 
Chief Executive Jaroslaw Bauc would take the top spot again, 
replacing his successor Adam Glapinski, local media reported. 
    Polkmotel is indirectly controlled by the state through 
stakes in several companies led by PKN <PKNA.WA> and KGHM 
<KGHM.WA>. 
     
    APRIL CPI, M3 
    Poland's statistics office to release April inflation, which 
is seen flat at 4.1 percent by the finance ministry. Central 
bank releases M3 data at 1200 GMT. 
     
    SKRZYPEK ON STRONGER ZLOTY 
    The rapid pace of the Polish zloty's strengthening is 
hurting the country's exporters more than the actual levels the 
zloty is reaching, central bank governor Slawomir Skrzypek said 
on Tuesday.                                     [ID:nL13934844] 
 
    ASSECO RESULTS 
    Poland's largest IT services provider Asseco Poland 
<SOBK.WA> expects first-quarter net profit above the market 
consesus of 38 million zlotys ($17.36 million), its chief 
executive told Reuters on Tuesday.              [ID:nWAR006855]  
 
    KGHM DIVIDEND 
    Poland may ask copper miner KGHM <KGHM.WA> to pay a higher 
2007 dividend than the 5.50 zlotys per share proposed by its 
management board, a deputy treasury minister was quoted as 
saying by PAP agency on Tuesday.                [ID:nL13909552] 
     
    News editor of the day: Chris Borowski 
     
    NOTE - For a diary of forthcoming events see [PL/DIARY] and 
a calendar of east European economic indicators see 
[CONV/DIARY]. 
     
 For other related news, double click on: 
 Polish equities       [PL-E]     E.Europe equities     [.CEE] 
 Polish money          [PL-M]     Polish debt           [PL-D] 
 Eastern Europe        [EEU]      All emerging markets  [EMRG] 
 Hot stocks            [HOT]      Stock markets         [STX] 
 Market debt news      [DBT]      Forex news            [FRX] 
  
 For real-time index quotes, double click on: 
 Warsaw WIG20 <.WIG20>  Budapest BUX <.BUX>  Prague PX <.PX> 
 ($1=2.189 Zloty) 
  

Next: Italian Stocks - Factors to watch on May 14