The company is currently producing about 20 programs for different TV stations. According to Tomasz Kurzewski, president of ATM Grupa, some pillars among its programs are �wiat według Kiepskich, Fala zbrodni, and Pierwsza miło�ć, while up-and-coming shows include Biuro kryminalne, Warto kochać and Pitbull. Finally, the president boasts of collaboration with some of the best-known Polish directors, like Agnieszka Holland and Maciej �lęsicki, as well as a group of renowned actors. Kurzewski emphasizes that he works ceaselessly to acquire better artists to cooperate with the company.
International expansion
ATM Grupa‘s ambitions extend beyond Poland‘s borders and it has long worked at penetrating other markets. „At its debut the company had optimistic plans concerning international expansion and selling licenses to foreign broadcasters,” says Katarzyna Perzak, who prepared ATM Grupa‘s report before it entered the WSE.
According to Dorota Michalak-Kurzewska, deputy president of ATM Grupa, it has already licensed its productions to many foreign distributors, but now wants to increase the number of series and game shows sold abroad. It recently licensed Pierwsza miło�ć, one of the most popular soap operas shown on Polsat, to Ireland. Ten episodes are scheduled for broadcast on the RTE channel.
„Since 2005 we have been implementing a strategy to spread ATM Grupa‘s activities to foreign markets. We have already sold Awantura o kasę to New Zealand, Gra w ciemno to Ukraine, Italy, France and Greece. If Pierwsza miło�ć turns out to be popular in Ireland, we will probably continue this cooperation,” says Kurzewski.
The sale of Gra w ciemno to Greece brought the company zł.1 million. The firm continues to search for development opportunities abroad because it already holds a significant share of the estimated zł.500-million Polish TV production market. Kurzewski says ATM Grupa‘s domestic-market share amounts to some 17 percent.
New media hopes
The company earned another zł.1 million from text messages. „The revenues from new media in 2007 shouldn‘t exceed five to ten percent of the total revenues, but they will dramatically grow,” says Kurzewski. „We hope to attract new ad providers directly through product placement or sponsoring,” adds Michalak-Kurzewska.
ATM Grupa estimates that last year‘s revenues reached zł.86.5 million and grew by some 19 percent compared to 2005. Net profit increased by 72 percent, from zł.11.8 million in 2005 to zł.20.3 million in 2006. The company boasts high profitability: Its operating margin reached 26.4 percent and the net margin amounted to 25.5 percent. „This is due to the fact that the value of the ad market has increased. This resulted in an increase in TV-programming budgets,” explains Kurzewski.
Piotr Her, an analyst from Raiffeisen Bank, says ATM Grupa‘s productions are gaining in popularity. „If so, it means they are improving in quality as well,” says Her.
Despite its good financial results, the company is looking for further growth. In order to facilitate its plans ATM, Grupa wants to invest up to zł.30 million. Many of its productions are already prepared using high-definition technology, with examples including the currently in-production sequel to Pitbull, a political-drama series called Ekipa directed by Agnieszka Holland, as well as the Fala zbrodni series broadcast on Polsat.
„We are trying to compete on many different fields of our activity. This also refers to competition regarding the quality of technology. If we want to be the best on the market, we have to offer products with the best technological quality. We all know that television is heading towards broadcasting all programs in the highest resolution. We want to be ready when the time comes,” says Kurzewski.
Investing in the future
ATM Grupa‘s 2007-2009 investment plans include the construction of a huge TV studio at the cost of around zł.20 million, and Warsaw is being considered as a location. Currently all of the firm‘s productions are recorded in Wrocław.
According to Michał Kowalczewski, a member of the supervisory board, the company is also negotiating several acquisitions, and though he declined to comment on when final decisions could be made, he indicated that price is no object. „We can designate any amount for that. We are in a good financial situation. We could also take a loan,” Kowalczewski said.
Piotr Her thinks ATM Grupa is a company with huge growth potential. „Its presence on the WSE gives the company reliability. If they need funds they can always issue shares,” he commented.
ATM Grupa also wants to be the first firm on the Polish market to offer products designed for new distribution channels. It is particularly interested in the mobile-phone market. „The digitalization of the Italian market, where we have recently made several observations, leads us to believe that mobile phones will allow us to watch over a dozen channels. We still don‘t have [that option] here, but we‘re looking at the trends of new-media development and we are trying to prepare for it,” says Kurzewski.
Andrzej Wróbel
ATM Grupa
CEO: Tomasz Kurzewski
Strengths:
- Large market share in Poland and growing interest
of foreign collaborators
- Competence in high-definition technology
Weaknesses:
- Too dependant on Polsat
- Lack of a large studio in Warsaw
Although a large portion of ATM Grupa‘s revenues comes from TV production, the company wants to branch out into new fields. Last year, for example, it co-produced its first feature movie, Dlaczego nie!, which has drawn around 900,000 viewers to movie theaters across Poland.
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