Poland: Asbis ‘Open’ to Acquisitions in Poland

Registered in Cyprus and listed on the WSE Asbis as an IT distributor may carry out a small take-over in Poland though it is not in talks yet, but this is what may be inferred from Friday statements of Siarhei Kostevitch, the company’s CEO.

"We’re open to growth through acquisitions", said Kostevitch to journalists noting that the company continued its organic growth and was not in negotiations.

"We may be interested in an acquisition of a small distributor in Poland that would expand our portfolio of brands", said Kostevitch. In a talk with ISB agency the CEO and Asbis major shareholder explained that the company’s policy consists in offering, if possible, the same set of brands across its area of operations.

"We’re are far from being a leader in Poland, but our base is solid and stable", said Kostevitch. He said that Asbis would introduce another product lines on the Polish market, like main boards, memories, consumer electronics. Asbis wants to increase its sales in Poland of own label products (Prestigio and Canyon).

The company’s representatives estimate that in 2008 Asbis would record a 20 percent growth in revenue and net profit.

"Our priority is further growth in net and gross margins", said Constantinos Tziamalis.

In the prospectus the company declared to allocate up to 20 percent of its profits for dividends in the forthcoming years, and on Friday its representatives informed that the 2007 dividend would probably be in the upper limit of the range.

According to preliminary date, the net profit in 2007 stood at US$ 18.7m compared to US$ 11.1m in 2006. Before its debut on the WSE Asbis shares were listed on AIM in London, now they are being withdrawn from trading there.

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