Farmec Cluj-Napoca boosts 7-month sales by 12.4 percent following new products launch

Romanian cosmetics manufacturer Farmec Cluj-Napoca has reported sales of RON 72.5 million (approximately EUR 42.5 million) for the first seven months of this year, up 12.4 percent y-o-y.

The increase was generated by the launch of a new products line – Aslavital Mineralactiv – and a commercial campaign occasioned by the sponsorship of the Romanian women’s gymnastics team to the London Olympics which was well received by the public, says the cosmetics producer.

After its sales increased by 15.6 percent in 2011 against the previous year, totaling RON 110.9 million (EUR 26.2 million), Farmec has lowered its expectations for 2012, announcing at the beginning of the year that it targets a turnover increase of around 5 percent.

Mircea Turdean, the company’s managing director, told BR in a recent interview that the downsize is generated by market conditions, the crisis which in his opinion is not yet over and also the shrinking purchasing power. “And yes, I would say that 2012 is worse than the previous year for Romania from an economic perspective. It will definitely not be the year when we see the end of the crisis,” he said.

He added that other challenges are price increases for the raw materials used and a general lack of support from the government. “There are also problems with the state in recovering the money we are entitled to receive. We have been waiting to recover VAT for more than a year (…). As for the issue of the alcohol excise tax, we have lobbied for this on all possible channels. The alcohol which is used in the cosmetics industry is taxed inRomania, although this doesn’t happen elsewhere in the EU. Here, too, we have to recover money from the state and the delays cause cash-flow problems. This excise tax cost us a EUR 6 million contract two years ago,” complained Turdean.