SNR Rulmenti: 20% business increase

SNR Rulmenti, the Romanian branch of the French group SNR Roulements and one of the leading bearings producers in Romania, estimates it will see a 20% turnover increase this year, to 9 million euros, from 7.6 million euros registered in 2006. Last year, the company saw a 160% turnover increase, as well as a shift from 0.7 million euros in losses to a 1.1 million-euro profit. “The main reason for the growth was the production of new types of bearings, as a result of introducing new production lines. In 2006, we started to produce conic roller bearings,” said Melinda Mathe, human resource manager of SNR Rulmenti. Since it started its operations in Romania, in 2004, the company has invested over 20 million euros in its production facility in Sibiu, but the company estimates a 50% rise in its bearing sales on the Romanian market, while for Bulgaria (where it has two national distributors) it estimates only a 10% rise. “However, in terms of figures, sales of car bearings are higher in Bulgaria than in Romania,” added Mathe.