ZF English

Arctic shifts investment focus to retooling and new products

20.10.2008, 17:27 11

With 3% lower turnover compared with 2007, home appliances producer Arctic Gaesti, owned by Turkey's Arcelik group, is investing in retooling and new products to minimize the impact of the global financial crisis on the domestic business. The company has put annual investments to boost production on hold and has centred on introducing new equipment and on productivity growth projects, as the price of some raw materials has soared as much as by 50%. The new approach is primarily visible in the annual investment budget, which has been cut to 5m euros, from 10m euros in previous years. Investments operated in recent years to expand production increased the total number of refrigerators assembled in Gaesti to almost 1.2 million units in 2007. Despite production lines operating at full capacity and flat domestic sales from 2007, the producer expects turnover to shrink by 3% in 2008 on the lower exports to international markets. As domestic sales suffered no major changes, Arctic's main goal is now related to exports. Arctic also continued image investments, with Arctic and Beko brands being supported by a budget of over 3m euros. "In crisis situations, the most difficult task has been to make projections (...)," says Monica Iavorschi, marketing and sales manager of Arctic.

Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels

AFACERI DE LA ZERO