Sucu: I wouldn't take a plant right now even if it were for free

Businessman Dan Sucu, one of the best-known domestic entrepreneurs, says he would not take a furniture plant at this moment even if someone gave it to him for free. “Since 2003, furniture production in Romania has been a real adventure. The fluctuations of RON “exotic currency” are bringing additional variables that cannot be controlled. In my business, the RON fluctuating at such values is nothing but a hindrance. Moving to the single currency, the euro, is more than welcome,” said Dan Sucu in an interview with ZF.

He owns Mobexpert and on Monday reported 21% lower annual sales, a drop double the initial estimates, and announced he axed 800 jobs during the toughest year of the economic downturn.

In euros, the crisis wiped out 54m euros from the turnover of the strongest group in the furniture industry, which has now come to generate just 115m euros. The group had got beyond the 100m-euro mark in terms of turnover in 2004. The crisis has strongly eroded the profit of Mobexpert, which in 2009 was at the limit of profitability.

Mobexpert operates 34 stores and hyper-stores in the region and eight furniture plants.

Sucu says all the retailer’s stores saw declining sales last year, but the best results were reported by the store in Baneasa, which posted an 8% decrease.

Sucu expects exports to pick up, particularly on the French market, after in 2009 sales abroad, generating 17-18% in the company’s turnover, went down by 30%.

“Instead of reaching 11-12% in terms of exports, I believe we’ll go to 25% amid the rebound of the French market, but it’s hard to be profitable 3,000 kilometres away from your market,” Sucu states.

As for the Romanian market, steps such as renting surplus space, cutting advertising investments and slashing the number of employees led to a 10% drop in expenses at the highest.

In 2010, Mobexpert will “probably” close one or two plants, but everything depends how talks with banks go.