Elektrim invests, bucks anti-IT sentiment
The market fell last week for the second week in a row after declines on the United States' Nasdaq index, but following corrections there clambered back last Friday to around the same level as at the close of the previous week's trading, analysts said.
The all-share WIG index dipped 0.06% on the week to close at 21,243.5 points. But volume shot down 22.6% to zl. 987.3 million ($240.8 million), the first time this year weekly trading has dipped below zl. 1 billion ($243.9 million).
"We're extremely sensitive to what's happening in the States," said Rafal Wiatr, an analyst at Citibrokerage and Salomon Smith Barney.
He said the Warsaw Stock Exchange's (WSE) 3% drop between last Monday and Thursday came on the back of the court verdict against Microsoft and the subsequent 15% tumble on the Nasdaq. Consequently anti-tech sentiment affected firms in that sector negatively. Softbank fell 9.95% to zl. 235 per share while Prokom dipped 2.2% to close at zl. 222.
However, Poland's largest computer firm, Optimus, captured the most limelight as it shot down 11.9% to finish at zl. 222. BRE Bank and media and water firm Multico bought a 28.43% stake and 65.94% of votes from Optimus founder Roman Kluska for zl. 140 per share. The deal, far below market expectations, prompted the stock's plummeting price.
But the deal made sense given the recent rally on IT stocks and the fact that two months ago Optimus' price was hovering around zl. 150, said Michal Szymanski, investment manager at ING BSK Asset Management. He added the move is likely to be short term and Optimus' new shareholders are likely to sell the stake to a foreign investor in the near future. "It's reasonable to assume that it's a portfolio investment," Szymanski said.
Also in the news was telecom and power conglomerate Elektrim, which rose 6.64% to zl. 64 after it won an appeal filed by Deutsche Telekom. The German firm had protested Elektrim's right to up its stake last year to 51% in Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (Era GSM), Poland's largest mobile telecom provider, with more than 2 million subscribers. Deutsche Telekom has a 45% stake in the venture.
The share price was also helped by the announcement last week that Elektrim had spent more than $4 million on the acquisitions of three small Polish internet and IT firms, though the company has yet to unveil its integrated internet strategy.
Elektrim purchased 85% stakes in two local internet-related companies, Inter Net Polska and NASK Service, for about zl. 11 million ($2.7 million). It also spent about $1.5 million on the acquisition of a 60% stake in CT Creative Team. The firm integrates mobile-phone GSM and internet networks as well as providing short message service (SMS) and wireless application protocol (WAP) technologies.
Ewa Bojar, Elektrim's spokeswoman, said the company will announce its long-awaited internet strategy this week or the week after. So far the firm has made only general statements. Analysts said they expect that French telecom and utility company Vivendi Elektrim's partner in its mobile phone subsidiary, Elektrim Telekomunikacja will serve as a strategic partner in its internet strategy.
"We can expect some small acquisitions, but I wouldn't put too much value into these with the future of the internet," said Zbigniew Lapinski, a regional telecom analyst at Deutche Bank Research. "The major strategy will be tied up with Vivendi, which has good experience with IT and media."
