Hi folks,

I've been looking around the Polish market.

I came across these two dividend stocks ...

$PZU (+0,51%)
$PKO (+1,18%)

What do you think, is it a good idea or not?

I look forward to your feedback.

Greetings

The WELT editorial team took a look at four dividend pearls from Eastern Europe. Not "gambling houses", but companies that make real profits, have solid balance sheets, a clear business model, are often market leaders and can be traded as normal in Germany.

$KRKG (+0,72%)
Krka from Slovenia

Pharma with growth without debt. The company has an extremely solid balance sheet and is debt-free. This is an absolute rarity in the pharmaceutical sector. The Slovenians produce generics - in other words, medicines that are always needed. And best of all: since Krka started paying dividends in 2015, they have been able to increase them every year. The current yield is a good five to six percent. One small drawback is that the withholding tax in the country is 25 percent and ten percentage points of this cannot be offset directly.

A little fun fact: anyone who buys Krka shares also becomes a hotel owner. This is because the company also owns one of Slovenia's largest spa and wellness operators, Terme Krka.

$PZU (+0,51%)
PZU from Poland

The group is the "Alliance of the East", so to speak, and with real market power! PZU is the largest insurer in the whole of Central and Eastern Europe.

The company also owns large stakes in banks, including a 20 percent stake in Bank Pekao. The exciting thing here is the valuation: with a price/earnings ratio (P/E) of 10, the company is valued more favorably than its Western competitors, but is growing in line with the dynamic Polish economy. It grew by more than three percent in real terms last year.

PZU is a real cash machine for income investors. The dividend yield is often between seven and eight percent. This makes the share a heavyweight for the portfolio and not a small second-tier stock. Withholding tax is levied at 19 percent, of which four percent can be reclaimed.

$IGN1L (+0,23%)
Ignitis Group from Lithuania

The energy supplier from the Baltic States is building large-scale wind farms in the Baltic Sea. The Baltic region is in the process of completely detaching itself from Russia in terms of energy, and Ignitis is the key driver. It is a mix of secure grid operator and aggressive green tech growth.

The figures are right here too: The dividend yield is around six to seven percent and the state is on board as an anchor shareholder.

$SNP (-0,1%)
OMV Petrom from Romania

OMV Petrom is the largest energy company in south-eastern Europe. The good thing for investors is that Petrom is majority-owned by the Austrian OMV $OMV (+0,26%) - so you have Western management, but Romanian growth opportunities.

Moreover, OMV Petrom is not just a petrol station. The group is sitting on a huge treasure. The project is called "Neptun Deep" and is a gigantic gas field in the Black Sea, which the company is now developing. This will make Romania the largest gas producer in the EU. That is energy security for the whole of Europe.

The figures are also pretty good. OMV Petrom is flush with cash and often pays a special dividend in addition to the normal dividend. In good years, investors can therefore quickly achieve a return of eight to ten percent.

Source text (excerpt), WELT 14.01.2026

I just want to use the first day of the year to set out my financial cornerstones for 2026. In a way, it's a little public self-talk so that I don't lose focus and have a guideline to follow throughout the year.

Initial situation: Due to my professional background, I have always been very real estate-oriented in my investments. This was no different in 2025, with over 90% of my assets being real estate and less than 10% "other" - including my regular securities portfolio. In principle, I feel quite comfortable with an overweighting in "stones", but I would like to shift the ratio slightly in order to have a larger proportion of assets that can be liquidated quickly. It is also desirable to have less exposure due to possible additional government regulations in the area of tenancy and real estate law (energy-related renovation obligations, rent regulations, etc.).

My portfolio is clearly geared towards distributions, as I am already over 50 years old and no longer fully employed. So I need something I can live from. My portfolio therefore mainly contains 'boring dividend stocks and ETFs'. It would be nice to generate an average of 2tsd euros net per month in dividends by the end of 2026.

Measure 1: A small apartment is for sale - the notary appointment is in the second week of January. Proceeds after deduction of brokerage and transaction costs approx. 200tsd, which will flow directly into the portfolio. I will sell my existing positions $TDIV (-0,08%) and $WINC (+0,49%) as well as my individual shares $BATS (+1,18%) , $RIO (+0,33%) and $PETR4 (-2,58%) increase them.

Measure 2: Sale of a small building plot - it is not yet possible to predict when this will be completed, as the plot is somewhat special. However, I think a sale in 2026 is realistic - proceeds approx. 160,000 euros. I would like to use the money to add a few more individual shares to the portfolio. Depending on how the prices have gone by then, I'm thinking of $PZU (+0,51%) , $PFE (+0,66%) and $CA (+1,07%). Maybe I will also $JEGP (-0,41%) further.

Measure 3: In February/March I will probably get my money back, which I spent on various building materials for a joint project. About 12tsd Euro. This will also go into the depot. There may also be the first returns from my first house subdivision project. But how much will come out of it is speculation, and the money will be returned at GmbH level, so that doesn't "count" for the time being.

Measure 4: This is the biggest board. I don't know yet whether it will work - at the moment I give it a realistic 25-50% chance of being implemented. I would like to take over a package of three houses with two business partners. We have a provisional commitment from the seller, but we have to manage to arrange financing. We need around EUR 3.5 million from the bank, so it won't be easy, especially as we only have until the end of February and the houses have a significant commercial component, which is generally viewed negatively by banks. If anything comes of it, I'll report back. It would be my last big deal in this area. We would split up and sell two houses and keep the third.

(Image generated with Lovart.ai, modified in Photoshop)

Since I am also quietly and secretly building up a 2nd pillar with dividend stocks, which also promise good growth, I have come across $PZU (+0,51%) that will probably end up in my portfolio. What do you think? They are the market leader in Poland with a dividend yield of 7.5% and a P/E ratio of less than 10.