Well-tailored business

Clothes designer and distributor Artman improved its financial results in the first six months of 2008 over the same period last year. The company had sales revenues of zł.133.3 million, a 21.2-percent increase over the previous six months, and its gross profit amounted to zł.3.7 million, which marked an almost 400-percent y/y increase. The firm's management board has upheld its 2008 prognosis, foreseeing closing the year with zł.360 million in sales revenues and zł.16 million in net profit.

"H1 2008 was an exceptionally good period for our company, which also brought a number of significant changes," said Grzegorz Koterwa, a member of the management board of Artman.

"We have opened new House brand outlets in Poland and abroad and started the launch of a new brand for women, as well as concluded an investment agreement with LPP that will allow us to increase the scale of our activities and launch an expansion into European markets," he added.

In H1 2008, Artman opened 24 outlets, 17 of which are located abroad, whose total area amounted to 4,500 sqm. The total number of House outlets thus reached 212. Of these, 89 are outside Poland, in countries including Belarus, the CzechRepublic, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. By the end of 2008, the company plans to open approximately 20 Mohito-brand outlets and by 2010 the number should increase to 80. Artman will spend approximately zł.9 million on the investment.

All of Artman's shares will soon be bought by LPP, and withdrawn from the bourse. After the takeover, the two companies will merge and the new entity will continue Artman's strategy. Artman's founders and main shareholders will own 40,000 LPP shares.