Bene Romania estimates EUR 1 million turnover for 2011

Austrian office furnishing company Bene forecasts that its local business will continue to grow in 2012 after reaching an estimated EUR 1 million turnover this year, compared to approximately EUR 900,000 in 2009.

When it comes to furnishing and designing an office, the local market remains very heterogeneous, say Bene Romania representatives. Costs can be anywhere between EUR 10,000 and EUR 1 million depending on office size and the chosen solution, noted Rodica Popescu, country manager of Bene Romania.

Despite the fact that companies continue to be cost-aware, Wolfgang Neubert, member of the board of directors at Bene AG, said he was confident that local sales would continue to grow. “I believe in Romania’s potential for growth because there is a stronger fashion orientation here than in other Eastern European countries. Romanians have a great sense for image, color and design,” he commented.

Bene opened its local sales office in 1998 with the initial objective of serving international companies expanding their operations locally. Some 14 years later, about 90 percent of its clients continue to be international corporations, but Bene representatives say that local firms are increasingly interested in the furnishing solutions its offers.

Bene Romania has delivered 10 large projects this year and about 150 since entering the market. Billa, Clifford Chance, DOKA, Ericsson, Grawe Asigurari, ING Bank, Microsoft, Raiffeisen Bank, Sonae Sierra, Synevo, Vodafone, OTP Bank and the Goethe Institute have been among its clients over the years.

This year the company has launched a new furniture line, Parcs, a creation of London-based design firm PearsonLloyd, which it also sells in Romania.

In the financial year that finished at end-January 2011, Bene reported global revenues of approximately EUR 170 million. Last year the company exported 65 percent of the furniture produced in its only factory, located in Waidhofen, Austria, but the share is estimated to reach 76 percent this year. Listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange, Bene AG has 85 sales offices in 36 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and the USA.