source: www.reuters.com

Fri Dec 12, 2008 4:21am ES

WARSAW, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Polish companies have so far owned up to 500 million zlotys ($166 million) in losses from currency hedging after being wrong-footed by the zloty's drop since September, the economy ministry said on Friday.

The ministry launched a phone line earlier this week for companies to seek help related to their problems with currency options and has so far received feedback from 85 companies.

"That's the information we've received since the line was set up four days ago," an economy ministry representative who operates the helpline and declined to be named told Reuters.

"It is difficult to assess the scale for the time being because we don't know how many more calls we will get. Some companies will probably never get in touch with us."

A spokesman for the ministry declined to comment further, saying a statement would be released by Monday.

Economy Minister Waldemar Pawlak warned last week that losses on currency hedging could total tens of billions of euros as Polish exporters were forced to settle options contracts with banks.

But in a television interview on Thursday, the head of Poland's financial and markets watchdog said the scale of the problem was insignificant relative to the size of the economy, which stood at around $480 billion at the end of last year.

The financial regulator has asked banks and companies to provide information on their exposure to hedging contracts and planned its own report on the issue.

Many Polish exporters took out hedging contracts to protect their earnings as the Polish currency soared to a record high against the euro in July.

Those bets turned sour after the zloty then shed around a fifth of its value, hurting several listed companies, including Poland's top chemical producer Ciech CECH.WA and fire-proof material maker Ropczyce ROPC.WA.

Some analysts said those contracts could weigh on company results for years to come, potentially as far out as 2011. Concerns about the scale of the problem have contributed to a further decline in the zloty over the last several days. (Reporting by Piotr Skolimowski; Edited by Chris Borowski/Will Waterman)