Glinik looks abroad

Gorlice-based Machines Factory (FM) Glinik is preparing to enter the Polish bourse in Q1 2008, with the intention of raising zł.150 million for new investments and acquisitions. The firm encompasses five subsidiaries operating in the smithing, mining machinery, drilling equipment, transport services and sanatorium sectors. It addition to domestic sales, FM Glinik's products are also present internationally in various heavy-machinery markets.

Part of the money earned from the bourse will be used to modernize the firm's products. FM Glinik also plans to use the funds for acquisitions, including a second in Siberia, Russia, where it has already acquired one firm. The company will also increase its export portfolio. "So far this has accounted for 30-40 percent of the group's production," FM Glinik president Mieczysław Brudniak told WBJ. The firm's most important foreign partner is Russia, but all exports are expected to grow.

Foreign contracts and takeovers, especially in countries like Russia or China, may be crucial given the uncertain situation in the Polish coal-mining industry, experts claimed. "Although the drop in demand for coal in Poland has leveled off, exploration will gradually decrease," said Michał Buczyński, an analyst from brokerage Millennium DM.

Brudniak also noted that the domestic market would remain strategically important for the firm, though he admitted that Polish mining companies can be difficult and demanding partners.

Last year brought the group revenues of zł.540.8 million and a net profit of zł.28.5 million, representing a growth of 47 percent and 400 percent, respectively, over 2005 figures.