Spending spree on the cards for ATM

ATM Group, an IT-systems implementation company and telecommunication services provider, plans at least two takeovers of IT and telecommunication companies whose combined current revenues are estimated at zł.100 million. This, along with infrastructure investments and new contracts, will double ATM's revenues next year. In order to finance that, ATM plans to issue shares in Q4 2006.

"We want to invest a lot to improve our situation on the market. We want to extend our telecommunication infrastructure to enable the expansion of new technological platforms, such as mobile payments, currently being tested by m-pay [part of the ATM Group] or the distribution of multimedia content on demand," says Roman Szwed, president of ATM.

The company took over a 60-percent stake in m-pay in February 2006. The company says this year's profits will not be big. Tadeusz Cichoń, ATM's deputy president, says that works on the system are advanced and the company will announce its plans for the commercial implementation of the project within the next few weeks.

Cichoń says that a large international company is interested in taking over m-pay. "We are considering the sale of a small stake, for which we could acquire a significant amount of money. The entrance of an international player onto the market would help popularize the service in other countries," he adds.

ATM Group's H1 sales profits reached zł.57.1 million, up by 13 percent compared to H1 2005. The company's net profit increased dramatically from zł.440,000 in H1 2005 to zł.2.4 million in H1 2006.