Ride the lighting

Lighting-systems producer Lena Lighting posted zł.31.11 million in revenue in Q1 2007, 44.4-percent higher than during the same period last year. Net profits for the quarter came in at zł.2.88 million (a growth of 7.45 percent y-o-y). The company forecasts that it will reach zł.12.15 million in net profit for the whole year.

"We owe our results to the boom in the construction market," says Maciej Rychlewski, president of the management board at Lena Lighting.

Lena is Poland's second-largest producer of lighting systems, holding an 11-percent share of the market in conjunction with its daughter company Luxmat. In the first quarter, the company began construction of a new 11,000-sqm production hall and distribution from its Hungarian subsidiary, Lena Lighting Hungary.

The company plans to continue taking advantage of Poland's thriving construction industry, basing its strategy on organic growth. It plans targeting clearly defined niches in the market and launching new products. For example, the group is targeting the decorative market with its new brand Sanneli Design, as well as the market for street-light covers under the brand Astra Road.

The group also plans to continue growing its exports. The company currently sells its products in 38 countries, but still holds a minor share in most of those markets. "We want to balance the income from Poland and abroad so that the domestic market is [just] one of the markets rather than the main one," says Rychlewski.

"Such a diversification guarantees stability in revenue and independence from the economic situation in a particular country," he stresses. The group will open new subsidiaries in Germany and Bulgaria this month, and later this year in Romania.