Turnover of Arctic Găeşti drops 12.6%

• The company"s market share increases 4%

Arctic Găeşti, the Romanian household appliance maker owned by Turkish company Arcelik, saw its turnover continue to decrease in 2009 as well, from EUR 213 million to EUR 186 million (-12.6%). However, last year, the company managed to increase its market share by 4%, to 35.3%. The trend continues from 2008, when Arctic Găeşti saw a 5% decrease in turnover, after a 15.6% increase in 2007.

Last year, the company sold over 1.4 million units, an 8% decrease, of which freezers accounted for 1.1 million. Monica Iavorschi, the company"s general manager, said, in a press release, that "the results of the business were very god under the current economic context. "Our sales abroad increased 5% last year, reaching 835,000 units, compared to 793,000 units in 2008. Even though, according to a study by GfK - Temax, the domestic market saw a dramatic 38% drop, sales of Arctic in Romania only decreased 22%.

The general manager of the company also said that last year Arctic focused on steps to streamline its manufacturing process and to carefully manage costs. "Following these measures, we were one of the first companies in Romania that did not resort to layoffs or wage cuts in 2009. We had a great achievement in 2009, when Arctic further cemented its leading position, by increasing its market share from 31% to 35.3%", the company"s general manager said.

Last year, the company succeeded in making exports account for more than 70% of its total revenue, after targeting Western European markets, which were showing signs of recovery. The company is looking to continue increasing its exports in 2010.

Turkish group Arçelik, the third largest European household appliance is present in over 100 countries and has 12 factories in four countries.