Sales Of Furniture Maker Aramis Up 14% In 1H

09.03.2013 By Ioana David

Furniture maker Aramis Invest, based in Maramures, northern Romania, recorded a turnover of 251 million lei (EUR57 million) in the first half of this year, up 14% on the similar period of 2012.

Aramis Invest recorded a turnover of EUR113.5 million last year, which makes the company the largest local producer (if one considers one single firm, not a group of companies), according to Trade Registry data. Aramis is a Romanian entrepreneurial business held by Iacob Vladimir (60%) and Marius Selescu (40%).

99% of the company’s production is exported

“The company’s policy will in the next few years also be to develop by attracting new business lines and investments,” says Ioan Floria, chief financial officer of the company.

The profit of the sofa and mattress producer stood at RON12.5 million (EUR2.8 million) in the first half of this year, according to data sent by the company to ZF.

The company’s turnover has lately seen a major surge during a difficult time for the furniture industry. An analysis of the past five years shows that the company’s business has tripled since the outbreak of the crisis, with exports currently generating 98.74% of the sales.

Aramis’ recipe for success

On the other hand, Romania’s furniture production fell between 2009 and 2011, and only managed to return to growth in 2012 (helped by exports), while domestic sales have yet to return to growth.

“The activity of Aramis Invest SRL has been on a steady upward trend, from the time of its first export,” says Ioan Floria.

“Considerable turnover rises have been recorded in the past few years (in 2010 the growth was 56%, in 2011 it was 39% and 7% in 2012). This evolution is due to the management’s wish to carry out a durable project by reinvesting the profit generated, as well as by attracting and retaining qualified personnel,” he adds.

Market information says Aramis was a furniture supplier for Swedish giant IKEA, but Aramis representatives did not confirm or deny the information.

Aramis is the first company in the furniture industry that has managed to surpass the EUR100 million turnover mark, while players who have announced results above this level are groups of firms. Mobexpert for instance announced turnover of EUR114.5 million last year at group level.

Romania ranks 28th among the countries with the largest furniture production, shows the World Furniture Outlook study, conducted by CSIL (an independent institute from Italy, which analyzes the world’s 70 largest markets.

Four of top five largest furniture producers in Romania are based in the Maramures area, where Aramis is based.

The 40 largest individual local furniture producers recorded a turnover of over EUR800 million last year, up 7% against 2011, according to ZF calculations based on Trade Registry data.

(English version by Daniela Stoican)