Mobexpert faces double expected turnover drop in 2009

Local furniture producer and retailer Mobexpert posted EUR 115 million in sales last year, a 21 percent drop on 2008 in sales reported in the Romanian currency. The fall was worse than expected due to the devaluation of the RON, the company has announced. Mobexpert estimated it would post a loss or, in a best case scenario, break even. Its retail sales slumped by 17 percent for home furniture and decorations, while office furniture sales plunged by 30 percent. The group has also seen a contraction in demand from external markets, which triggered a drop in production, to just 50 percent of its factories’ capacity.

Mobexpert has leased 14,000 sqm of unused retail space to third parties, and reduced investments in advertising, while axing 800 employees, in order to adapt to the difficult conditions on the market, the company has said.

The retailer expects to keep sales at the same level this year as they were last year, in an optimistic scenario. It also plans to open a new hyperstore inside Sun Plaza shopping center in Berceni, which will begin trading on February 25. This will be the 11th Mobexpert hyperstore.

The furniture company also plans to increase exports, as it foresees a comeback in demand from external markets after Western economies revive.

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Corina Saceanu