"2003 will be the last year of stagnation. We have completed the restructuring operations, therefore we must grow." Bogdan Nisipeanu, Electroaparataj Bucharest general manager, is ending one of the most troubled times the company has been through.
"We have had six years of restructuring and investment during which we shed half the total jobs, managed to double productivity and make cost structures efficient. We have ended a 'purging stage and another stage is now beginning, when our priority is to boost turnover and profit," Bogdan Nisipeanu says.
Electroaparataj was sold by the State five years ago to several investment funds, which aimed to turn it around and later sell it to a strategic investor.
The electrical equipment maker, therefore, began an investment and restructuring programme soon after privatisation, which resulted in a reduction of the number of employees from 3,865 to 1,836 and boosted labour productivity from 4,300 euros/employee to 8,200 euros/employee, Nisipeanu says.
Besides the restructuring effort, Electroaparataj was also forced to bear the most serious Romanian economy recession after 1990 and the loss of the traditional export markets in the first post-privatisation years.
"We have, however, managed to keep the annual turnover fluctuation within 0%-20%. Fortunately, part of our domestic market is captive, while the loss of the traditional export markets was balanced by the relocation of the production of certain Western companies to the Eastern European countries," Nisipeanu says.
The captive market the Electroaparataj manager is talking about consists mainly of the large state-run Romanian companies, which were designed to use parts made by this company.
"Approximately 40% of our turnover is currently derived from selling industrial equipment on the domestic market, to the state-run companies mainly, which cannot use any other products but those made by Electroaparataj because of the manner in which they were designed to work," Nisipeanu specified.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
