Orkla dives into electronic media

The Polish subsidiary of Norwegian concern Orkla Media and the leading player in Poland's regional daily newspaper market, Orkla Press Polska, has identified electronic media is its new strategic field of development.

"We are thinking about regional radio stations, internet portals and web sites, regional advertising agencies and electronic publications of our dailies, so called e-publications," the president of the firm, Joanna Pilcicka, said. However, she did not disclose the financial costs of the new strategy nor the name of any potential investor.

The new strategy is aimed at strengthening Orkla's position in the regional press market. Pilcicka says that reaching the widest possible circles and winning new readers and recipients are the company's main goal. "We want to be strong in the regions, where our papers are present ...We want to be number one on the local, regional markets, this would make our offer attractive for advertising providers," Pilcicka said.

Orkla Press Polska reported revenues of zł.265 million and a net profit of zł.8.8 million last year. Currently the concern has 12 regional dailies in eight voivodships in Poland, as well as one local weekly. The largest of these papers is Gazeta Pomorska with a circulation of over 107,000.

Orkla Press also claims 51 percent of shares in Rzeczpospolita - one of Poland's largest dailies, which averaged sales of 183,100 issues per day in 2004. According to statistics from the Association of Press Control and Distribution (ZKDP), Orkla Press Polska's average daily sales of almost 370,000 issues in the first nine months of 2005 give it 13.8 percent of the Polish market. PBC General estimates that Orkla's regional dailies reach as many as 4.34 million readers - over 14 percent of all Poles, and 44 percent of those living in the eight voivodships where they are distributed.

"With the exception of one region we are the market leader in all of our local markets," Pilcicka said. She also underlined that while the average sales of regional dailies fell by 3.5 percent in the first three quarters of this year, the decrease of sales in Orkla's titles was just 1.5 percent. "This is due to editorial and promotional activities undertaken by the titles," she explained.

Orkla Press Polska also owns 41 percent of the shares in advertising agency Media Tak. The remaining shares are in the hands of another regional press powerhouse: Polskapresse. Media Tak is the undisputed leader in selling advertisements to the Polish regional press, as it sells largely to these two companies, whose combined sales exceed 1.1 million issues. 

Michał Pakulniewicz