New foundations

Opoczno's financial results disappointed last year in comparison to 2004. Revenue fell from zł.425.8 million to zł.417.8 million, while profits sank from zł.76 million in 2004 to just zł.29.4 million last year. Last week's price per share of zł.35.30 was significantly lower than its IPO price of zł.55.

The company, the largest ceramic tiles manufacturer in Poland with a market share of over 24 percent, has a number of plans to turn the numbers around. "We are planning to introduce a brand with the highest-class tiles," said president Mirosław Godlewski.

The company also sees foreign expansion as a vital part of its strategy. "We are selling only in retail chains in Poland. Now we are going to distribute our products in foreign supermarkets," Godlewski announced. Opoczno wants to strengthen its distribution abroad, especially in the UK and Scandinavia. It also plans to send salespeople to Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Belarus, and it wants to open sales offices in Russia and Ukraine. In 2007 the foreign expansion will continue - with the Balkans, Bulgaria and Hungary being the prime targets.

The company confirmed that it is holding acquisition talks with an unnamed firm in Russia, the results of which should be known around the end of Q3. However, in case the acquisition does not take place, the company has  another route into the market. "The alternative is a greenfield investment," Godlewski said.