Kodak announces expansion even as market slumps

Kodak Polska has announced plans to increase the number of its processing laboratories in Poland. The company will add an additional 35 outlets by the end of next year, bringing the total nationwide to 400. The ambitious plan will not impose too great a financial burden on Kodak, since the expansion, expected to cost between zl.10 million and zl.20 million, will be financed by the company's franchises. The cost of setting up a single photolab is from zl.300,000 to zl.600,000. Kodak's decision to expand comes as a surprise to analysts, since the prospects for the Polish photography market are considered rather grim. According to company representatives, Kodak's sales in Poland fell last year by 3.6%, and slid a further 1.2% in the first half of 2001. The state of equipment sales is particularly bad, with the decline in the first six months of the year reaching 10%. "The domestic market is downsizing only temporarily. Its growth potential is unlimited, when compared to Western European countries," said Kodak spokesperson Yolanta Wisniewska. Kodak's revenues in Poland were zl.183.6 million last year, having stood at zl.164.2 million in 1999. (Puls Biznesu, p. 8) J.K.