Wirtualna Polska Holding S.A. recorded a net profit of over PLN 81 million in 2020. This means an increase of nearly 15% compared to 2019. Four years after its launch, Telewizja WP also generated profit. Revenue in this segment increased by 30%.
Total sales revenue of Wirtualna Polska Holding S.A. in the online and tv segments in 2020 amounted to over PLN 632 million. They were down nearly 11% compared to 2019 due to Q2 results, which were significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite this fact, the company closed the year with a 15% higher net profit, exceeding PLN 81 million.
In 2020, Wirtualna Polska calculated and reduced the so-called carbon footprint, i.e. greenhouse gas emissions expressed in CO2 equivalent. Emissions in 2020 were more than 14% lower than in 2019. According to the adopted assumptions of sustainable development, all data centres of Wirtualna Polska Holding S.A. will be emissions-free by 2023. Since the beginning of 2021, the company has been purchasing energy exclusively with guarantees of origin from renewable sources. At the end of March, WP has started the construction of its first test photovoltaic farm.
‘During the pandemic, many of us try to do things that should have been done long ago. In this difficult time, at Wirtualna Polska we are implementing many projects with a view to improving our products and services. The most important of the projects include the energy reduction project and the adoption of a plan to make our server rooms emissions neutral by the end of next year. Such activities are especially needed in our country and they have a much greater effect on the environment than elsewhere, because we have one of the dirtiest energy production processes, not only in Europe but also across the world,’ said Jacek Świderski, President of the Management Board at Wirtualna Polska Holding S.A.
‘This time has also shown the strength of the holding, how we support and complement each other. We were able to compensate for the lower results achieved by the tourism companies by the activities of other companies, in particular the media company, but also those selling cars or house designs,’ added Elżbieta Bujniewicz-Belka, Member of the Management Board for finances.
According to data published by Nielsen Audience Measurement, Telewizja WP in 2020 achieved a record-breaking 0.67% SHR in the commercial group of people aged 16-49. It has thus outperformed all MUX8 channels, also in terrestrial and cable distribution. Overall, in 2020 Telewizja WP reached 9,5 million viewers, an increase by 7 percentage points compared to 2019. As a result, last year closed with a profit. Sales revenue was higher by 30% and exceeded PLN 26.5 million, and EBITDA of this segment amounted to PLN 1.8 million.
Wirtualna Polska is a technological holding, it is engaged in media, advertising and e-commerce activities. It is the owner of the WP homepage and owns specialist thematic websites such as money.pl, WP SportoweFakty or autocentrum.pl. In e-commerce, WP operates in the areas of tourism (among others, wakacje.pl, nocowanie.pl), fashion (domodi.pl, allani.pl), interior design (homebook.pl) and house design (extradom.pl), financial services (totalmoney.pl), and in the automotive sector (superauto.pl). According to a Mediapanel survey, 21.4 million Poles used WP’s online products in February 2021.