Henkel sales up a mere 1% in Romania, while profit steeply declines

The Romanian subsidiary of German group Henkel saw a just 1 percent increase in sales last year, to almost EUR 139 million. Net profit, however, declined by almost half, to EUR 5.5 million, from EUR 10.3 million, in 2012, official data from the Finance Ministry shows. This is the lowest profit which the company posted in Romania in the last six years. The group, which runs operations ranging from detergents to cosmetics to construction materials, has three factories in Romania where it produces construction adhesives under the Ceresit brand. Total investments in the three factories were of some EUR 46 million. The group also distributes on the Romanian market its detergents and home care products, which include Persil and Pur, and its cosmetics brands, including Fa, Palette and Schauma. Henkel has more than 500 employees in Romania, and a total of 47,000 worldwide. The group’s total sales last year were of EUR 16.4 billion and operational profit stood at EUR 2.5 billion. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com