Kober: 33m-euro turnover

Kober forecasts it will end this year with turnover worth around 120 million RON (33m euros), similar to the result posted last year, but with a higher profitability rate.

“Our target for this year was to consolidate our position on the market and boost the profitability of the business. We”ve managed to raise our margins through a stronger control over costs and by tightening the term linked to the recouping of receivables from the market,” stated Stefan Barna, a marketing manager with Kober, one of the biggest paint and varnish producer in Romania.

He did not specify the level the profitability rate would reach this year. According to Public Finance Ministry data, Kober last year derived net income worth 1.62 million RON (0.4 million euros) amid turnover standing at 113.7 million RON (28 million euros), which means the margin stood at 1.4%. Decorative products (decorative enamel, washable paint, ecological paint, DIY products for wood protection) held the highest weight within turnover, about 65%. About 85% of the company”s turnover is derived from deliveries on the domestic market, with the rest coming from exports. “The weight of the various product lines within the company”s total turnover reflects the structure of the Romanian paint market,” says Barna. The investments the company made this year were particularly directed to the development of new professional products for the constructions sector, the development of a grading system, Kolor Explorer, and to the improvement of environment protection systems.

Kober currently owns a research and production unit specialised in paints and varnish in Turturesti (near Piatra Neamt) and a unit manufacturing electronic parts in Iasi.

Last year, the company sold Pitura SA distribution firm to five regional distributors.

Sources close to the deal said the sale of distribution areas was decided in the context where the objectives the company had set at the moment the distribution company was created were reached.

The respective objectives were related to the promotion and distribution of Kober products through a complete network. Kober is a business entirely owned by Aurel Kober family. The company was set up in 1991 by Aurel Kober and currently has almost 450 employees.

The Romanian paint and varnish market generates annual sales topping 140 million euros, according to certain estimates.