Onet purchase means no TVN dividends

Private television station TVN will not pay out a dividend in 2006 because of the firm's purchase of Onet Poland Holding BV, owner of an 82.35-percent stake in Grupa Onet, which cost the broadcaster zł.1.1 billion. Also, at the beginning of August, TVN called for the sale of the remaining 17.7 percent of shares in Onet. "We estimate that we will need some zł.244 million to buy the remaining shares and we've already frozen a relevant sum," said Karen Burgess, TVN's CFO.

Investors can expect dividends in 2007. "In the upcoming years the dividend will amount to 30-50 percent of the net profit," said Piotr Walter, TVN's CEO.

The broadcaster posted good Q2 2006 financial results, with net profit growing 21 percent year-on-year to zł.85 million and EBITDA increasing by 50 percent from zł.92 million in Q2 2005 to zł.138 million in the second quarter of this year.

"Second-quarter results have always been the best for the company. This year Q2 was particularly impressive but one has to bear in mind that in April last year there was national mourning and we didn't broadcast advertisements for a week," explained Walter. "We expect that Q3 revenues will be lower, as usual," he added.

In autumn this year, three new thematic channels from TVN are expected to begin broadcasting.

"We are going to launch TVN Lingua and TVN Med in the fall and a third thematic channel as well. That will be it for this year; we are very careful about launching any more channels in the future," said Piotr Walter, TVN CEO.