Top Brands expects a 22-25% rise in business despite the crisis

The company has signed futures contracts to protect its business against exchange rate fluctuations. TBD is already affected by the rise in financing costs due to the economic crisis, as the firm’s working capital comes largely from banking loans.

 

“Risks are increasingly higher on the market, because there are many unknown factors in the equation. We do not know what measures the new government will take, or what the value of macroeconomic indicators will be, such as unemployment and inflation,” said El Ghadban.

 

TBD will raise salaries by an average 20 percent in 2009, to counter the personnel turnover. The company posted RON 540 million (€150 mln) in the first half of 2008, up 49 percent year-on-year, due to expansion of the distribution area.

 

Interbrands Marketing&Distribution, Aquila, Astral Impex, Elgeka-Ferfelis, Macromex, Whiteland, Lekkerland Romania are also operating on the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distribution market.

 

There is no direct competition among players on the distribution market. Each company has a different product portfolio which it distributes to its client network. Most of these products are distributed on an exclusive basis by the company. As a result, it is difficult to estimate the market shares of distribution companies, and often market shares of each brand are taken into consideration.