The first eight months of the year were in line with estimates and better than the same period of 2010, said Sotirios Marinidis, who has been running Romanian operations of Procter & Gamble since July 2009. He added the sales are expected to increase in single digits.
On a market where consumption continued to decline by over 5 percent in the first six months of the year, Marinidis says things are showing signs of improvement in the sector where P&G operates.
“Consumption is slowly recovering,” he said, adding the sale volumes on the non-food fast moving consumer goods market is set to rise by less than 5% this year.
“Consumption is linked to the macroeconomic trend, although I don’t believe things will return to pre-crisis levels.”
Marinidis says last year was difficult, but the company managed to see the turnover grow by 7%, to EUR300 million, and posted a EUR9 million in net profit.
“P&G has a long history behind it and we have been through many crises. We have strategies to fight the negative effects of the crisis,” explains Marinidis, who has worked for P&G for nearly two decades.
He mentions the expansion of the company’s product portfolio in times of crisis and the launch of new products. The head of P&G Romania says during the crisis the company launched a set of products on the local market, such as Pampers Sleep & Play and Ariel gel capsules.
On the Romanian market, P&G operates on the segments of baby care products (Pampers), feminine hygiene products (Always), razors (Gillette), detergents and household care products (Tide, Ariel, Fairy, Bonux), hair care products (Wash&Go, Pantene, Head&Shoulders).
The extensive portfolio and cost cuts helped the company overcome the crisis, says Marinidis, adding P&G boost its sales on all product categories.
P&G sells its products both in modern retail, and in traditional retail, with the latter contributing 60% of the sales.
“Although the share of modern retail is growing fast, traditional retail will not disappear, given the geographical structure and consumption habits in Romania,” explains Marinidis, who previously ran P&G’s Romanian operations between 2002 and 2005. He returned to Romania about two years ago.
P&G produces locally some of the products it sells on the Romanian market. The company holds two production facilities in Romania, in Timisoara and Urlati.
As for the opening of a new plant in Romania, Marinidis says he does not rule it out, but that for the moment there were no such plans.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)