Modern retail boosts Sprinter sales by 20%

The expansion of the modern store formats has led to a 20% increase in the business of accumulator and light bulb importer Sprinter 2000. “The company”s business has grown due to the increase in the size of our two sales divisions (Auto and Electrical), which has led to a better coverage of the market, as well as to the investments in new products,” Marius Popescu, the company”s marketing manager explained. The growth of the store chains like Selgros, Metro, Carrefour, Cora, the main clients of this company, boosted Sprinter”s turnover to 2.5 million euros in the first eight months, an increase of 20% on the corresponding period of 2004. The officials expect the growth pace to maintain for the full-year turnover, which should reach 4.2 million euros. The company estimates 7% profit rate for the first part of the year. “The profit rate is slightly lower, as the increase in the number of employees and the significant investment in new products came with expenses whose results will only show in the near future,” Popescu said. The company”s business is divided into two divisions, which contribute almost equally to the turnover, the automotive and the electrical products division. The largest contribution to the total sales of the electrical products division came from the Foton batteries (Sprinter brand), Varta batteries and General Electric light bulbs. The brands distributed include Osram and General Electric (lighting sources), Rayonac and Sanyo (batteries and lanterns), SAFT, Steco, Sprinter, Topin (accumulators), Foton (photo films and light bulbs for cars). ZF