LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Polish media group Agora has approved Marek Sowa as its new chief executive to set the company on course to cash in on the growing online advertising market and find its spot in the local TV industry.
Sowa, an outsider with background in television and electronic media, was picked last month to take over as the next Agora head from its long-serving chief executive Wanda Rapaczynska, who took the company public in 1999.
'At the start of 2008 I will present the outlines of a new few-year strategy,' Sowa told reporters at his first news conference as Agora head. 'It will be a strategy of continuation and evolution rather than revolution - an accelerated evolution when it comes to our electronic business.'
'Spheres which we should expand include our presence in audiovisual resources, new platforms of distribution and digital media,' he added.
Agora, which runs Poland's biggest opinion-making daily Gazeta Wyborcza and is present on all media markets except television, now aims at strengthening its position in new media. The company expands the reach of its web portal gazeta.pl and produces TV and video formats in cooperation with ATM Grupa.
Analysts expect Sowa to shift the company's focus away from the highly competitive press market to fast-growing electronic media segment of Internet and television.
'This is the best possible direction for expansion, as the press market does not have great perspectives ahead of it,' said Dorota Puchlew, analyst at DM PKO BP in Warsaw.
Agora lost half of its market value last year after it cut the price of its flagship daily and spent heavily to fend off competition from Germany's Axel Springer, which publishes Poland's best-selling tabloid Fakt and launched a second daily Dziennik last year to target Wyborcza readers.
Wyborcza has managed to defend its position.
In the first half of 2007 Wyborcza's copy sales stood at 458,000 - almost 2.5 times more than Dziennik, while income from copy sales came back to the levels from before the price cut, as the daily now comes alternatively in higher-priced versions with CDs, DVDs or books attached.
Agora, which net profit rose five times in the first half to 47 mln zlotys while sales rose 8 pct to 636 mln, took steps to cut costs and increase investment in its Internet arm to cash in on a double-digit rise in online advertising.
'Media digitalization creates new possibilities that we intend to make use of,' Sowa said. 'Footholds in new media have already been achieved by Agora.'
'We want to expand via organic growth, as well as acquisitions and strategic alliances,' he added. 'As far as takeovers go, we will also be looking closely at our neighbour countries.'
Agora, now valued at 2.7 bln zlotys, said earlier it could spend over 700 mln zlotys on acquisitions. Analysts have linked Sowa's nomination with a possibility of buying into TV assets, as the company's previous attempts in this respect have failed.
Sowa said buying into TV assets is an option, but 'not for any price,' disavowing market speculations that under his reign Agora would return to the idea of a tie-up with Poland's biggest private broadcaster Polsat.
The new CEO's first goal will be to fend off competition from a new daily to be launched this autumn by German publisher Verlagsgruppe Passau's Polskapresse. The newspaper is to be formed out of Polskapresse's regional dailies, which now have combined weekly sales of 2.8 mln copies.
'Our cost base may grow a little due to the debut of Polskapresse's new daily,' Agora outgoing CEO Rapaczynska said.
'The market is now even tighter than when Dziennik was launching,' PKO's Puchlew added. 'Wyborcza came out victorious from its confrontation with Dziennik, it showed prowess, is now better prepared, and therefore the new daily is not as big a threat as Dziennik was.' Adrian.krajewski@thomson.com vlb/slm COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
Sowa, an outsider with background in television and electronic media, was picked last month to take over as the next Agora head from its long-serving chief executive Wanda Rapaczynska, who took the company public in 1999.
'At the start of 2008 I will present the outlines of a new few-year strategy,' Sowa told reporters at his first news conference as Agora head. 'It will be a strategy of continuation and evolution rather than revolution - an accelerated evolution when it comes to our electronic business.'
'Spheres which we should expand include our presence in audiovisual resources, new platforms of distribution and digital media,' he added.
Agora, which runs Poland's biggest opinion-making daily Gazeta Wyborcza and is present on all media markets except television, now aims at strengthening its position in new media. The company expands the reach of its web portal gazeta.pl and produces TV and video formats in cooperation with ATM Grupa.
Analysts expect Sowa to shift the company's focus away from the highly competitive press market to fast-growing electronic media segment of Internet and television.
'This is the best possible direction for expansion, as the press market does not have great perspectives ahead of it,' said Dorota Puchlew, analyst at DM PKO BP in Warsaw.
Agora lost half of its market value last year after it cut the price of its flagship daily and spent heavily to fend off competition from Germany's Axel Springer, which publishes Poland's best-selling tabloid Fakt and launched a second daily Dziennik last year to target Wyborcza readers.
Wyborcza has managed to defend its position.
In the first half of 2007 Wyborcza's copy sales stood at 458,000 - almost 2.5 times more than Dziennik, while income from copy sales came back to the levels from before the price cut, as the daily now comes alternatively in higher-priced versions with CDs, DVDs or books attached.
Agora, which net profit rose five times in the first half to 47 mln zlotys while sales rose 8 pct to 636 mln, took steps to cut costs and increase investment in its Internet arm to cash in on a double-digit rise in online advertising.
'Media digitalization creates new possibilities that we intend to make use of,' Sowa said. 'Footholds in new media have already been achieved by Agora.'
'We want to expand via organic growth, as well as acquisitions and strategic alliances,' he added. 'As far as takeovers go, we will also be looking closely at our neighbour countries.'
Agora, now valued at 2.7 bln zlotys, said earlier it could spend over 700 mln zlotys on acquisitions. Analysts have linked Sowa's nomination with a possibility of buying into TV assets, as the company's previous attempts in this respect have failed.
Sowa said buying into TV assets is an option, but 'not for any price,' disavowing market speculations that under his reign Agora would return to the idea of a tie-up with Poland's biggest private broadcaster Polsat.
The new CEO's first goal will be to fend off competition from a new daily to be launched this autumn by German publisher Verlagsgruppe Passau's Polskapresse. The newspaper is to be formed out of Polskapresse's regional dailies, which now have combined weekly sales of 2.8 mln copies.
'Our cost base may grow a little due to the debut of Polskapresse's new daily,' Agora outgoing CEO Rapaczynska said.
'The market is now even tighter than when Dziennik was launching,' PKO's Puchlew added. 'Wyborcza came out victorious from its confrontation with Dziennik, it showed prowess, is now better prepared, and therefore the new daily is not as big a threat as Dziennik was.' Adrian.krajewski@thomson.com vlb/slm COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
© 2007 AFX News
