The company’s officials did not confirm the information, but said, “We are indeed investing in Romania”, without providing further details. “Sogeco Romania (the company operating the Orastie plant i.e.) is a strategic site for Philips,” they added.
The representatives of Orastie City Hall specified Philips did not notify them that it planned to diversify production, but said that a supplier of the company, Besser, which owns a plant near that of Philips, voiced its intention of expanding and manufacturing electric toothbrush parts.
“Besser, a supplier of Philips, announced it would invest in a new production facility and employ around 130 people to manufacture parts for electric toothbrushes and toothpicks. It has already started seeking a land plot,” says Dorin Popa, deputy mayor of Orastie.
Besser officials did not comment on the information by the time the story was ready for posting. According to its own website, the company entered Romania in 2011 and has a 7,600 square meter production facility.
The Orastie plant, with over 500 employees, ended 2012 with revenue of EUR72 million, an over threefold increase against 2009, when Philips bought it from Italy’s Saeco. The Dutch company also carries import and distribution operations in Romania
While the production business grew constantly after takeover, distribution figures dropped in the same period to EUR45 million. In 2008, the last year of economic boom, Philips derived EUR82 million revenue from import and distribution operations, almost twice as much as in 2012.
The different performance of Philips’ two businesses in Romania can be accounted for by the fact that the production of the Orastie plant is exported, while the local computer and electronic retail market is just rebounding.
Philips officials did not specify the percentage of production being exported, or the markets the products made in Orastie reach.
However, in 2013 Sogeco Romania entered the ranking of the 100 biggest domestic exporters for the first time, on the 75th position, according to National Statistics Institute data.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)