Excelent reports $3 million profit

Bucharest-based sweets producer Excelent SA has remained unaffected by the drop in the purchasing power that one of its rivals, Kraft Foods complained about last year. The company filed its report with the Stock Exchange on Tuesday, logging approximately $26.4 million turnover, up 30% from 2001. Net profit reached $3 million, up 15% from the previous year.
This is the first year of significant growth for its sales, as the company had been posting losses since 1999, when a sales peak ($29 million) was registered. The all-time sales low, $20.3 million, was registered in 2001, but that year was the best for Excelent SA in terms of profitability since its listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. It posted $2.6 million profit  back then.
Sources on the market say Excelent’s results were largely influenced by its advertising spending last year. It spent some $3.2 million (rate card) on TV advertising alone, CSOP/ Taylor Nelson Sofres data show.
The promotional campaign for the Excelenta chocolate tablets was designed by the Tempo Advertising agency. The company was one of the top three advertisers on the chocolate market, after Kraft Foods Romania and Supreme Distribution, the owner of the Primola brand. Excelent SA is more than 94% held by Axis Investments Ltd. controlled by businessman Fathi Taher, who also controls the Marriott Hotel in Bucharest.
Another player to have benefited from the advertising campaigns, which is also the “youngest” player on the market, is Primola Prodimex that has managed to attain 30% of the chocolate tablet market in only one year in business.
On the other hand, Heidi and Kraft Foods, both of them multinational companies, logged poorer results on the Romanian market last year. A possible explanation volunteered by the Kraft officials could be the low purchasing power.
The main players, Kraft Foods, Nestle, Heidi, Excelenta, Primola and Kandia accounted for about 80% of the market. The total market was estimated to be worth $70 million.