* CFO says may act if market conditions get worse
* Unlikely to up div back to 50 pct before situation stable
* Will look for acquisition opportunities due to crisis
* Sees uncertainty main problem, signals clearly negative
(Adds details, quotes, share performance)
By Jan Korselt
PRAGUE, April 30 (Reuters) - Czech miner New World Resources
<NWRS.L> <NWRSsp.PR> may cut production and postpone investments
including its 800 million euros ($1.06 billion) project in
Poland if the market situation deteriorates, its chief financial
officer said on Thursday.
Due to low visibility and worsening signals in the economy,
the firm has prepared a set of cost-cutting measures that would
strengthen its liquidity in case of a market turmoil, Chief
Financial Officer Marek Jelinek told Reuters in an interview.
NWR, owner of the biggest Czech hard-coal mine OKD, could
reconsider its plan to raise inventories this year to above
500,000 tonnes from around 290,000 tonnes at the end of 2008.
That would lead to a lower overall output than the 12.1 million
tonnes planned earlier, Jelinek said.
The company could also postpone an around 800 million euros
investment to open the Debiensko mine in Poland to save cash and
take advantage of a possible drop in the investment's costs in
the future due to a slump in prices during the economic crisis.
"Our biggest problem is not an imminent crisis of any kind
-- liquidity, profit or sales. Our imminent problem is that we
do not know at all, what we could expect next week or next
month," Jelinek said.
"Generally, the signals that we see in the market are
clearly negative. We have to be prepared if the situation gets
worse, and that is all we are doing at this moment."
OKD, one of the largest corporate employers in the Czech
Republic with over 15,000 staff, said on Thursday it agreed with
labour unions on stable wages this year and and partial lay-offs
among its suppliers.
Czech industry output dropped around a fifth in the first
months of 2009, as its cars and other goods lacked demand in key
Western European markets.
"The message we have from them (our clients) is the same --
simply 'we have a low demand for our steel, we are closing one
furnace after another'. That is all we can see now," Jelinek
said.
He said the first months of the year were "slightly worse"
than expected due to low demand for coke, though the difference
was not dramatic yet.
NWR shares have plunged by 82 percent since its initial
public offering in May 2008, when it sold a 36.2 percent stake
for 1.3 billion pounds ($1.93 billion) and were up 3.9 percent
on the Prague bourse and 0.48 percent in London on Thursday.
The stock, battered by a drop in commodity prices globally,
has underperformed Prague's main PX <> market index, which
has lost 47 percent over the period.
TAKEOVER OPPORTUNITIES
Jelinek said the current crisis could also create new
acquisition opportunities in central and eastern Europe for NWR,
which had 700 million euros in cash at the end of last year.
"I would not say we would have a problem to buy almost
anything in this region -- if it was available," Jelinek said.
He said NWR was currently under no pressure to restructure
its debt or call in bonds early. But he said it was currently
talking to several banks about an attractive debt instrument to
improve its capital effectiveness.
"Still, our (debt) ratios are very, very comfortably within
the range, where they should be."
NWR paid out 35 percent of 2008 net profit, below a long
term payout target of 50 percent. Jelinek said the lower
dividend mirrored current unprecedented uncertainty, and the
firm would return to the 50 percent payout ratio as soon as the
market stabilises.
($1=.6739 pounds)
($1=.7547 euros)
(Editing by Hans Peters and Mike Nesbit)
