Over the next 2-3 years Romania will become the development centre for the Central and Eastern European operations of the French group GVP, one of Europe”s major producers of envelopes and suppliers of related corporate mail management services, announced Thierry Blain, general manager of GVP Groupe for Central and Eastern Europe. He says the Romanian branch is posting constant sales growth and the domestic market continues to mature, becoming increasingly attractive to investment.
In the first quarter of the year, the GVP representative announced that in comparison to the same time last year, GVP Romania had registered a 50% increase in financial indices, to a value of 3 million euros. If this growth maintains, the company”s management estimates turnover will come to 10 million euros by yearend, an increase of over 50% compared with 2005. “In our field, the second half of the year is the most prolific in terms of sales,” explains Thierry Blain.
Moreover, Romania is becoming increasingly attractive in terms of GVP group”s total sales. “In Romania, we are registering the highest volume of sales compared with the other countries in the region. Overall, sales in the Central and East European countries, where we are present, account for about 12% in the group”s total sales. We will continue to invest in Romania because the market is full of opportunities and from a legislative point of view, things are starting to move in the right direction,” GVP manager also said.
In his opinion, the Romanian market of mail products at present witnesses annual growth of around 6-7%, but this percentage is likely to expand in the context where the domestic administrative system will have to be adjusted to European Union regulations.
“We”ve met demand in this sector by developing a mail services department. Production is carried out in Cluj, and mail management activities are exclusively handled by GVP Romania”s Bucharest agency (…),” specifies Blain.
According to him, around 3 million euros have been invested over the last two years in developing the mail services department, so that the data base could be processed completely safe as far as customers are concerned and 10 million documents could be inserted per month at first.
The company also works with major retail stores, except Metro. According to the company”s management, sales carried through major retailers account for around 5-6% in turnover.
Blain says the company”s investments for 2006 will come to approximately 0.7 million euros and will target the development of production capacities and the purchase of new machinery.
Blain could not offer any information on the progress of the company”s market share, but specified this indicator had increased from last year.
GVP Romania
* In Q1 posted a 50% increase in its financial indicators from last year, to 3m euros
* Forecasts turnover will reach 10m euros by yearend, up over 50% from 2005
* Works with major retailers, except Metro
* Investments earmarked for 2006 will amount to 0.7m euros and will target the development of production capacities and the purchase of new machinery
n Last year held a market share of approximately 60%.