Quadrant Amroq Beverages (QAB), the bottler of Pepsi drinks for the Romanian market, witnessed a 64% rise in its turnover in dollars during the third quarter, compared with the corresponding period last year.
This adds to the company''s half-year performance, when turnover grew by 47%, one of the fastest paces in its respective industry.
"The factors that contributed to this development are the investments made in the company''s brands, backed by the sales force," stated Eusediu Margasoiu, QAB''s marketing and communication manager. QAB''s investments in Romania will exceed 11 million dollars (8.5 million euros), while the annual turnover of the company will probably amount to some 150 million dollars (115 million euros).
Quadrant Amroq Beverages posted more than 100 million dollars (85 million euros) in turnover last year, up nearly 50% on the previous year. The bottler completed a 7 million-dollar (6 million euros) investment in a new facility in Covasna, where it bottles mineral water.
The company has two more facilities in Bucharest at present, which handle the production of soft drinks. It has over 1,000 employees in Romania.
For QAB, non-carbonated beverages have been the fastest growing segment this year. While Pepsi witnessed 66% growth in turnover in the first six months, Prigat progressed by 78%. The cola-type range saw sugar-free products posting the highest growth (79%) compared with the traditional Pepsi Cola (67%).
As for the ice tea segment, Lipton logged a 57% higher turnover as compared with the corresponding period of 2004.
Also this year, the company witnessed a change of shareholders. Three months ago, US-based giant PepsiAmericas acquired 49% in the Quadrant-Amroq Bottling Company Limited (QABCL), the owner of QAB, for 51 million dollars (42 million euros).
QABCL shareholders still retain the controlling interests and say they have no intention of selling any more. They noted that the main reason why they decided to sell was to sustain expansion in Romania. After the deal with PepsiAmericas was closed, Eli Davidai, QABCL chairman, said that the money from the sale would go to the expansion of the production facilities.
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