De Chalendar, 57, was in Romania for a short visit last week to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the group with the local partners.
“We had a very good first half. The market did not do very well in the past three years but has recovered and construction activity has improved,” the French executive told ZF in an interview.
Saint-Gobain hopes to do a little better than the overall market this year. The construction industry is doing well and the trend will continue. Demand is there, the economic indicators are positive, de Chalendar said.
Pierre-Andre de Chalendar joined Saint-Gobain in 1989 and was appointed CEO in 2007. He became chairman of the board of directors in 2010.
Saint-Gobain operates through several companies in Romania, has more than 1,000 employees and 12 production facilities. The local operations generated EUR163 million revenue in 2014 and two subsidiaries of the group, Saint-Gobain Glass and Saint-Gobain Construction Products, are among the largest construction materials manufacturers in Romania, according to this year’s edition of the `Cei mai mari jucatori din economie” (“Key Players in the Economy”) ZF Yearbook.
Asked about this year’s performance of the Romanian operations, the Saint-Gobain CEO said he expected high one-digit growth.
“Romania is one of the good markets in Europe for us at the moment.”
Things are improving in many countries but not everywhere. Things are not so good in France at the moment, a major market for Saint-Gobain, while in the UK things are better as are in the Nordic countries, and there is progress in Eastern Europe, in countries like Czech Republic and Poland, the Saint-Gobain official said.
The French group has expanded by acquisitions and building production facilities from scratch in Romania so far. What are the development plans for the future?
The main short-term (12 months) goal is to boost efficiency of the already existing facilities and make constant investments in upgrading them to launch new innovative products. No greenfield projects or acquisitions are planned in the near future, but the group will definitely expand on medium-term because certain operations of Saint-Gobain are not present in Romania yet, the group CEO said.
The Saint-Gobain official says he is optimistic about the prospects of the local market, which has skilled workforce and high productivity. Attracting EU funds is essential to ensure future development, which includes infrastructure, he added.
“In all honesty I see more opportunities than serious problems in Romania.”
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)