BOT wants a cool billion
Last year BOT Górnictwo I Energetyka SA's (BOT) five subsidiaries posted a total income of zł.6.8 billion, which translated into a profit of zł.289 million. The company, which came into formal existence in October last year, attributes the high profits to an increase in energy sales and favorable currency rates. This year, the group hopes to nudge income up to zł.6.9 billion.
The holding's main goal for the future is entry onto the WSE, planned at the beginning of 2007. As Zbigniew Bicki, the president of the management board, said: "To fulfill the goals that were behind establishing the group, BOT must be privatized." Bicki added that the group hopes to acquire "perhaps even zł.1billion" from the first stock issue, which would be used to invest in the CEE region.
But the company admits getting there won't be easy. "We must prepare and restructure the company before the privatization," says Bicki.
In order to compete with the much more efficient energy producers from Western Europe, BOT is aiming to cut operating costs by as much as 20 percent. To do that, the group wants to reduce its 16,000-strong workforce by at least 1,000 through a system of voluntary redundancy.
Other restructuring steps aimed at increasing the group's competitiveness include creating new firms integrated within the holding, and offering services, such as transport. Vertical integration - combining energy production with its distribution - is also one of BOT's chief goals. According to Bicki, the group is shooting for around 20 percent of the energy distribution market.
BOT Holding was established by the government last year and consists of three power plants and two brown coal mines. BOT Górnictwo i Energetyka SA owns a 69 percent share of each subsidiary. Twenty-three percent of Poland's capacity is installed in the group's power plants and over 29 percent of the country's total energy output in 2004 was produced by BOT's subsidiaries.
The holding's main goal for the future is entry onto the WSE, planned at the beginning of 2007. As Zbigniew Bicki, the president of the management board, said: "To fulfill the goals that were behind establishing the group, BOT must be privatized." Bicki added that the group hopes to acquire "perhaps even zł.1billion" from the first stock issue, which would be used to invest in the CEE region.
But the company admits getting there won't be easy. "We must prepare and restructure the company before the privatization," says Bicki.
In order to compete with the much more efficient energy producers from Western Europe, BOT is aiming to cut operating costs by as much as 20 percent. To do that, the group wants to reduce its 16,000-strong workforce by at least 1,000 through a system of voluntary redundancy.
Other restructuring steps aimed at increasing the group's competitiveness include creating new firms integrated within the holding, and offering services, such as transport. Vertical integration - combining energy production with its distribution - is also one of BOT's chief goals. According to Bicki, the group is shooting for around 20 percent of the energy distribution market.
BOT Holding was established by the government last year and consists of three power plants and two brown coal mines. BOT Górnictwo i Energetyka SA owns a 69 percent share of each subsidiary. Twenty-three percent of Poland's capacity is installed in the group's power plants and over 29 percent of the country's total energy output in 2004 was produced by BOT's subsidiaries.
