PRAGUE, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press
reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial
markets on Wednesday:
ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 2 hours)
======================== ECONOMIC DATA ========================
Real-time economic data releases....................<ECONCZ>
Previous stories on Czech data.............[]
Overview of economic data and forecasts..........<CZ/ECON15>
Updates on Czech currency.............................[]
====================== EVENTS ================================
PRAGUE - Chemicals group Unipetrol <>, a unit of
Poland's PKN Orlen <PKNA.WA>, to hold news conference on H1
results with CEO Francois Vleugles and CFO Wojciech Ostrowski at
0800 GMT.
====================== TOP NEWS ================================
UNIPETROL Q2 NET DROPS 80 PCT: Net profit at Czech
petrochemical and refinery group Unipetrol <> dropped
80 percent in the second quarter to 302 million crowns ($18.60
million) due to low margins in its key petrochemical segment and
a strong crown.
Story: [] Related news: []
PRAGUE BOURSE OWNERS TO SELL OVER 90 PCT: Shareholders may
sell a stake of more than 90 percent in the Prague Stock
Exchange (PSE) by the end of the year, the bourse's biggest
shareholder said on Tuesday.
Story: [] Related news: []
UNIPETROL Q2 NET SEEN DOWN: Czech petrochemical and refinery
group Unipetrol <> is expected to post a 66 percent
drop in net profit in the second quarter due to low margins in
its key petrochemical segment and a strong crown, a Reuters poll
showed.
Story: [] Related news: []
CROWN PUSHED UP BELOW 24 PER EURO LEVEL: The Czech crown
gained versus the euro on Tuesday afternoon, lifted by a
slightly weaker dollar, and pushed below the 24.000 to the euro
level for the first time since the central bank cut borrowing
rates last week.
Story: [] Related news: []
RUSSIAN CRUDE SUPPLIES TO CZECHS DIP AGAIN: Russian oil
supplies to the Czech Republic have again dropped below expected
levels, reducing flow in a key pipeline by up to a third, the
state-owned pipeline operator said on Tuesday.
Story: [] Related news: []
PRAGUE JOINS EUROPE IN PRICES: When Jean Mallock and Kathryn
Newbould planned their trip to Prague, their friends regaled
them with tales of great beer and food way below British prices.
Upon arriving, they were stunned at how much they spent at
pubs and restaurants.
Story: [] Related news: []
CZECH CBANK TO WITHDRAW COINS, SEES TINY CPI IMPACT: The
planned withdrawal of Czech 50-heller coins from circulation as
of Aug 31 is likely to raise inflation by around 0.1 percentage
points, Czech central bank (CNB) governing board member Pavel
Rezabek said.
Story: [] Related news: []
CZECH JUNE C/A GAP 3 TIMES BIGGER THAN FCAST: The Czech
current account posted a deficit of 27.02 billion crowns ($1.67
billion) in June, more than three times larger than the market
forecast of a 9.0 billion crown gap due to dividend outflows,
data showed on Tuesday.
Story: [] Related news: []
ZENTIVA CALLS EGM: Czech drugs maker Zentiva called an
extraordinary shareholders meeting (EGM) for Sept. 3 to discuss
a 30 billion crown ($1.86 billion) takeover bid from French
drugs maker Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA>.
Story: [] Related news: []
---------------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT ------------------------
Index/Crown Currency Latest Prev Pct change Pct change
close on day in 2008
Czech Equities <> 1,446.5 1,457.4 -0.75 -20.31
vs Euro <EURCZK=> 23.750 23.855 +0.44 +11.58
vs Dollar <CZK=> 15.929 16.005 +0.47 +14.06
U.S. Equities <> 11,642 11,782 -1.19 -12.23
Pvs close or current levels vs prior domestic close at 1500
====================== PRESS DIGEST===========================
CEZ BUYBACK: Czech power group CEZ <> is not likely
to launch a share buyback before the end of the year as it must
wait until shares it bought in a previous buyback are cancelled.
Hospodarske Noviny, page 14
PRAGUE BOURSE SALE: State controlled Warsaw Stock Exchange
may not be able to bid for the Prague Stock Exchange as one of
the conditions of the sale stipulates that a bidder must be a
privately-owned company.
Hospodarske Noviny, page 13
Reuters has not verified the media reports, nor does it
vouch for their accuracy.
For Instant Views of key economic data click on
[]
For summary of economic data and forecasts <CZ/ECON01>
For diary of forthcoming Czech events []
For calendar of east European economic indicators []
TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets []
TOP NEWS -- Convergence watch []
For an economic indicator diary for the euro zone, the United
States and other Group of Seven countries see <G7TODAY>
For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets:
Warsaw WIG20 <> Budapest BUX <> Prague PX <>
News editor of the day: Jan Lopatka on +420 224 190 477;
fax: +420 224 229 935
E-mail: prague.newsroom@reuters.com
(Compiled by Jana Mlcochova)
