Page 18 - bneMag Oct23

18 I Companies & Markets bne October 2023
As Packeta, Zasilkovna is active in Slovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the United Arab Emirates. In the latest development, it used Slovenia to expand its activities in the Adriatic and launched its seventh entity named Packeta Adriatic.
The two Czech bidders are competing separately but have often cooperated in the past.
PPF, which is controlled by the family of the late billionaire Petr Kellner, has long been active in e-commerce.
“We will certainly want to have a look at it, but if we show interest in Zasilkovna, then only in the whole thing,” Smejc told journalists in June.
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PPF, Kretinsky, and his Slovak business partner Patrik Tkac invested in developing another Czech e-commerce platform, the Mall Group of Jakub Havrlant, before Polish Allegro announced taking over the Mall Group in 2021.
Kretinsky and Tkac retained the online television arm, Mall TV and incorporated it into its Czech Media Invest as Fameplay – it is active in Czechia and Slovakia.
Advent International was founded in 1984 and is one of
the largest and longest-serving independent private equity partnerships, investing $75bn in over 410 private equity investments across 42 countries globally. It has assets worth $95bn under its management, and retail, consumer & leisure are one of its core segments.”
Poland’s central bank shocks market with a 75bp rate cut despite 10% inflation
Wojciech Kosc in Warsaw
The National Bank of Poland (NBP) cut its reference interest rate by 75bp to 6% on September 6, delivering a shock to the market, which expected only a 25bp reduction.
The NBP had been sending out increasingly clear messages that a cut was imminent in the context of inflation easing to just over 10% y/y in August from the peak of over 18%
in February. The ongoing economic slowdown – with GDP deepening its contraction to -1.4% y/y in the second quarter – only improved the odds for the start of a monetary easing cycle as soon as September.
The NBP, however, surprised with a reduction three times the expected value, citing “lower than expected demand pressure [that] will exert influence on a faster return of inflation to the NBP's target,” the central bank said in a statement.
“Taking into account these conditions, as well as the time lag with which monetary policy decisions affect the economy, the [NBP] has adjusted interest rates, which will support reaching ... [the] inflation target in the medium term,” it added.
Analysts say that the shock cut means no more easing will take place before the first quarter of 2024.
“The new reference rate outruns market expectations by six months. The cut occurred even though inflation is still above 10%, which was claimed to be the threshold for any reduction of the interest rate,” Erste wrote in a comment.
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The language of the NBP’s statement – specifically the use
of the word “adjustment” – also points to the move being a one-off, with the central bank returning to wait-and-see mode.
The market reacted strongly to the scale of the easing. The Warsaw Stock Exchange's banking index, WIG-Banki, fell nearly 4% with several big lenders - Pekao, Millennium, and PKO BP - falling almost 5%.
The NBP's decision also pushed the zloty down by almost 2% against the euro and the US dollar.
“Today's decision signifies a reduction in the interest rate differential between Poland and abroad, potentially weakening demand for the Polish złoty,” Bank Millennium said.
The National Bank of Poland (NBP) surprised the market by cutting its reference interest rate by 75bp to 6%.