New sales pitch

Empik Media & Fashion (EM&F) group has announced its Q3 results and plans for the future. The group will reduce the number of new outlets it will open next year, as a result of the economic slowdown. Around 210 outlets are expected to have been opened by the end of this year, while EM&F could open as little as 30-40 percent of that in 2009.

The company will concentrate on "prime" projects instead, schemes which guarantee the highest return and EBITDA. It will also opt for locations whose developers offer very good leasing conditions, taking advantage of the slowdown in the construction market to press for lower leasing fees.

"If we do not get good leasing conditions, we will not be opening new shops," EM&F president Maciej Dyjas told the press. The group hopes to sign a number of new deals at the turn of 2009/2010, when it feels that conditions will be advantageous.

Other main goals for 2009 include increasing sales, maintaining sales and EBITDA margins, and improving operating cash flow.

EM&F is also changing its debt structure, moving many short-term debts into long-term ones. The group's short-term debt increased to zł.248.94 million, compared with zł.158.9 million in September 2007, while long-term debt increased to zł.316.75 million, up from zł.86.28 million. The group's assets increased to zł.1.94 billion in Q3, compared with from zł.1.09 billion in the same period last year.

In Q3, EM&F saw 58 percent y/y revenue growth and eight percent net profit growth, with the figures reaching zł.525.2 million and zł.3.7 million, respectively. In the year to September, the group earned zł.1.44 billion in revenues, marking 51.5 percent y/y growth, and zł.28.71 million in net profit, an increase of 102.2 percent.