SOFIA (Bulgaria), September 18 (SeeNews) – Bulgarian-registered Greek-owned advertising, brand marketing and music video producer Advertising Prodigy plans to make Bulgaria a hub for expansion in Southeastern Europe, where it plans acquisitions, its chief executive officer said.
The company will double by the end of the month its share capital of 360,000 Bulgarian levs ($271,000/184,000 euro) through the issue of 360,000 shares with a par value of 1.0 levs each, and will raise it by a further 1.5 million euro in the first quarter of next year, Nikos Asikis told SeeNews in an interview.
Asikis said earlier this year the company will raise its capital up to 20 million levs to finance its regional expansion.
The first two capital hikes will take place through a private placement with current shareholders getting the new shares, while the following increases will be offered for subscription to the public, Asikis said.
After the first two capital increases, the company plans to proceed with acquisitions and expansion outside Bulgaria and Greece. The company, headquartered in Bulgaria's capital Sofia, has a branch in Athens, Greece.
“The objective is for the first acquisition to take place in 2010,” Asikis said. The company is now is scanning the market, he added but gave no details.
Advertising Prodigy will open a branch in Cyprus after the second capital increase as part of its regional expansion.
“The next step will be Romania but we will wait,” Asikis added.
Advertising Prodigy posted a 451,000 lev net profit on sales revenue of 634,000 levs last year. Its net profit fell 38% on the year to 280,000 levs in the first half of 2009, as sales revenue halved to 318,000 levs.
Asikis said financial results so far in 2009 are satisfying as the company has already achieved half of last year’s profit “in a year when everybody is cutting budgets for advertising”. He sees the company’s end-year financial results surging thanks to a planned major deal.
The company expects to sign a deal with a “big spender”, a multinational company active in the mobile phones sector, by the end of the month. Under that deal it will become the multinational company's exclusive representative for advertising services in the region, Asikis said.
“The contract will cover all the Balkans, so we will develop rapidly our business in other countries such as Albania, Cyprus, the former Yugoslav countries, Romania and Bulgaria,” Asikis said.
“This business will help us develop faster than we have planned.”
The company is involved in TV productions, music productions and festivals and below-the-line advertising. Below-the-line sales promotions are short-term incentives, largely aimed at consumers.
“The goal will be to be the pioneer in brand marketing in Bulgaria,” Asikis said. “Here in Bulgaria there is still opportunity to be leader in this sector. This will be our main vehicle to provide all the other services that are included in brand marketing umbrella.”
The company will rely on its Greek connections and innovative approach. Its clients include Japanese-Swedish handset maker Sony-Ericsson, Greek electronics retailer Germanos, German detergents, adhesives and cosmetics conglomerate Henkel, Corona Beer and advertising agency Civitas Advertising Company.
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)