By Adrian Krajewski and Chris Borowski
WARSAW/VIENNA (Reuters) - TVN TVNN.WA, Poland's largest listed media group, has been sees strong advertising bookings and does not expect any significant signs of a slowdown until early next year, the head of its finances said on Monday.
"September and October have been very strong months, with bookings well above our budget," Chief Financial Officer Karen Burgess told the Reuters Central European Investment summit.
"We are in the process of gathering November bookings so we will see how that looks, but we see no sign of a slowdown."
Last week, Polish publisher Agora AGOD.WA cut its 2008 forecast for newspaper advertising spending in Poland, expecting companies to reduce marketing expenditures in the face of worsening economic conditions.
Even though analysts expect the TV market to be hit next, Burgess stressed television broadcasters should lose a smaller share because in tougher times companies are more selective with their advertising spending, favoring newer media.
"Slowdown will become visible coming into next year," Burgess said. "We still expect double-digit growth in our 2009 revenue but we don't expect to come anywhere near the price increases we had this year."
"We have probably come to an end of aggressive price increases and going forward we still expect price increases, but at a lower level," she added.
Following TVN's meeting with investors last month, ING brokerage said the group would likely raise its 2008 forecast thanks to strong ad sales. Burgess said the group would revise guidance with the release of third-quarter results next month.
The company currently expects 2008 sales to rise 18-20 percent thanks to 13 percent growth in the Polish television advertising market.
"What we could expect is more spending in the short term, because, for example, if you're a dealer with a lot of cars to sell to want to sell them as soon as possible, but you cut your spending next year," Burgess said.
"In the short term you could probably see an uptick in advertising spending from the financial and automotive sectors," she said.
TVN is in a relatively strong position to face the growing credit crunch as it does not have to repay bonds for the next five years, she said. The group also managed to issue 500 million zlotys ($188 million) in bonds as the markets were seizing up in June.
"We basically sit on that cash right now. We invested in treasury bills and we are waiting," she said.
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