Empik invests

Poland's largest lifestyle-market company, Empik Media & Fashion (EMF), plans to invest "well over" zł.100 million in 2007, the bulk of it (around zł.80 million) in Poland.

"We want to open between 50-60 new stores in Poland next year," the company's president, Maciej Dyjas, said. EMF owns Empik and Smyk stores as well as outlets of renowned brands such as Palmers, Boss, Esprit and Kenzo.

The company also wants to expand abroad. It already has one Smyk store in Berlin and next year it plans to open three to four additional outlets. "We want to have between seven and 10 stores in Berlin," Dyjas said, adding that at the end of 2007 decisions could be made with regard to expansion to other cities.

Apart from Germany the company is expanding on the Ukrainian market. This year EMF bought majority shares in two companies running stores with a profile similar to Smyk and Empik. "In a few years' time our activities in Ukraine should bring an annual revenue of zł.200 million in comparison to zł.35-40 million now," Dyjas said.

EMF had revenue of zł.704.1 million in the first three quarters of 2005, which was a 10-percent increase in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year. The group's profit reached zł.9.9 million, while after Q3 of 2005 it was zł.8.64 million. Dyjas underlines that if it wasn't for the sale of Zara shares in Q3 last year, the company's revenue growth would have exceeded 20 percent.