E-marketing: Logging on to the WSE

Marketing-technology firm K2 Internet is heading for its WSE debut, which is due to take place in early May, and it's counting on zł.10 million from the IPO. The company will offer 330,000 new shares, with the maximum offering price reaching zł.40. The company's prospectus was published in March and the subscription for shares is due this week.

K2 offers a range of internet-related services, including e-marketing, sales, client service and online advertising, e-marketing consulting and outsourcing. The company also has a media house, Acr.pl, and a consultancy, Komitywa.com.

The IPO funds will support the company's 2007-2010 development strategy, which includes the construction of a new office for Acr.pl, the launch of mobile services and entry into other CEE markets.

The company is dependent on the developing online market, which is currently getting a boost from growing numbers of internet users and increasing media interest in e-marketing. "The present position of the company is a good basis for future development," said management board president Janusz Żebrowski. The firm claimed to have had a 5.4-percent share of the marketing services market in Poland over the past two years.

According to the estimates by brokerage Dom Maklerski Penetrator, which is handling the IPO, K2 is worth about zł.73 million and its stock is worth around zł.36.56 per share. By 2015, the company will reach zł.127.3 million in revenue, with a net profit of zł.12.2 million, as compared with a forecast zł.25.5 million and zł.1.8 million respectively in 2007, claimed the brokerage.

The company's business is not free from risk, of course. Increasing competition on the market, the unpredictable nature of the online market and potential problems with finding qualified staff hang over the business, according to Penetrator's report.