In Brief: Link 4; Lmeat; Pension funds; FIAT; FG

Link 4, a newcomer to the insurance market offering its products direct by phone rather than through agents, has sold 1,200 car insurance policies in its first three weeks. Mariusz Sarnowski, the company's president, said the result far exceeded expectations. (Puls Biznesu, p. 4) ... There are only three prospective investors interested in the privatization of Lmeat, although the Treasury Ministry assessed the company's stake at zl. 25 million, which is below its nominal value. (Puls Biznesu, p. 5) ... In January, pension funds recorded their worst results for six months at -0.92% on average. The fall should be attributed to the overall decrease in prices on the stock market. (Puls Biznesu, p. 7) ... FIAT is the company to have spent the most on car advertising in 2002, namely zl. 68 million. Renault is the second biggest spender, their promotion costs were estimated at zl. 57.3 million. (Puls Biznesu, p. 6) ... Fundusz Gornoslaski (FG) has managed to recover after years of bad management. FG's losses fell from zl. 26 million in 2001 to zl. 2 million in 2002. After restructuring, FG has assets of zl. 127 million at its disposal. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B3) ... The Treasury is to offer bonds with maturity ranging from two to twenty years, worth between zl. 6.2 billion and zl. 7.5 billion at three primary tenders this month. The first tender, for zl. 2.8 billion of the Treasury's popular zero-coupon two-year notes, will be held tomorrow. (Reuters) K.Z.