RB nr 8/2009

Legal basis: § 56 subpar. 1 pt. 1

Keeping in mind the interest of the Shareholders of MCI Management SA, the Management Board of MCI would like to present the explanation of the information which was used in the article published in GG Parkiet titled “MCI Management. What’s with the loan for ABC Data? Insecure guarantees” which is untrue and mislead the public.

1. The title of the article (p. 1) uses the following sentence: “What’s with the loan for ABC Data?” and then its extension (on p. 4): “BRE Bank (.) is entitled to demand additional guarantees for the loan granted to MCI for the purchase (.)”
BRE Bank never granted MCI Management SA any loan for the purchase of ABC Data Holding. The information regarding the transaction was described in detail in the company current report no. 86/2007 submitted in compliance with relevant requirements in this respect which apply to public market. The words used by the journalist seem to suggest problems with fulfilling its obligations by MCI, which are none in this context.
2. The author of this article uses (p. 1) the words: “…weak PLN is also hurting ABC Data Holding. BRE Bank loaned the company 21 million Euro which was worth then PLN 76 million which is now worth as much as PLN 90 million.” This information is completely incorrect. The debt referred to here is the bonds issued by ABC Data Holding taken up by BRE Bank; these bonds are denominated in PLN and not in Euro. Consequently, currency exchange rates have no affect whatsoever on the current value of the liabilities. This information also was described in detail in the company current report no. 86/2007.
3. The author of this article suggests that the guarantee for ABC Data shares is insufficient for BRE Bank due to the fall in the price of other distributors’ shares. In support of this suggestion he writes e.g. (p. 4) that: “the reasons of the fall (.) include the disappointing financial results.” Clearly this is an intentional misinterpretation which is especially evident since the journalist knows the following opinion of the President of ABC Data Holding: Regarding the results of the companies belonging to ABC Data group – the books for 2008 have not been closed yet, and so we cannot present any detailed financial results for this year. However, we did record a 6% growth in turnover compared with last year and at least the same growth in EBITDA.
4. Further in the article (p. 4) its author tries to prove the suggestion of alleged problems of MCI Management: “the necessity of gathering money to buy the bonds back (.) is not the only problem of MCI.” This information is also erroneous and incorrect as these bonds are securities convertible into shares. There is no need to buy the bonds back. When they become due they can be converted into shares in ABC Data Holding SA. The details of this issue were described in the company current report no. 86/2007.
5. The journalist speculates on talks conducted with prospective purchasers of shares in ABC Data (p. 4): „MCI tried to find a sector investor for the company. He talked with (.). Presumably he also negotiated with (.). Unsuccessfully.” MCI did not try to look for a sector investor. The statements made with the use of the terms such as “presumably” and authoritative “unsuccessfully” right after that strongly undermine the objectivity and accuracy of the journalist. This is nothing else but simply creating reality without any support by facts.

Furthermore, due to the number of questions from the investors and the shareholders of MCI, the Management Board of the company declares that the company has not been and is not engaged in transactions with derivative instruments (so called toxic options or any other similar security instruments.)

At the same time as we are observing dramatic changes in the company share prices over the last sessions, there arises a suspicion that the MCI Management SA share price might have been manipulated. This is the reason why the Management Board of the company has submitted to the Financial Supervision Commission a request to conduct an investigation of the situation.