Orlen hoping to fuel Czech acquisition with good year

"The net profit might be almost twice as much as the result in 2003 when the figure stood at zł.987 million," said the oil company's deputy president Janusz Wiśniewski. According to analysts this should be no surprise because after the first three quarters profit is twice the amount recorded over the same period last year. "I think the company will maintain similarly good results until the end of the year, which will make it one of the most attractive companies on the bourse. The only threat might be high spending on the acquisition of Czech Unipetrol," said Remigiusz Sopel, analyst of IDM. Revenues of the firm stood at zł.8.5 billion in Q3, which according to Wiśniewski is mainly due to high oil prices. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 8) M.M.