Bilka in the Top 300 Companies

Capital magazine has launched the “Top 300 Companies” listing, produced out of a desire to “decipher Romania’s economy and understand which companies are operating as a locomotive for it.” The ranking was based on the following criteria: turnover, profit, turnover evolution, profit evolution and number of employees.

Roofs of the future

Bilka Steel is a 100% Romanian company, established in 2007 in Brașov. In its 13 years of existence, it has become recognised as the market leader in roofing. It ended 2019 with a turnover of RON 655 million, approximately EUR 130 million. The company’s management expects a growth of around 20% compared to last year’s reported level, and a net profit of EUR 20 million, up 45% compared to 2019.

Despite the pandemic, Bilka has continued its successful investment plan, with a focus on developing a product division for the industrial sector. The total investments amounted to EUR 5 million, part of a project started in early 2017 worth over EUR 25 million. Next year, the company plans to complete the first stage of the development of its industrial construction division, which will result in the opening of an insulated panels factory. In the medium term, if the economic market continues to be stable and the medical crisis is kept under control, Bilka proposes “the possible acquisition of companies in fields related to our field of activity and we are also considering opening a production unit abroad”, according to the statements of Horațiu Țepeș, the company’s CEO, for Capital editorial office.

Where opportunities were lacking, they created them

The biggest challenge was the medical crisis generated by the pandemic, but just as every economic actor was affected by it, Bilka Steel management acted quickly by forming a new operation model. They became much more cautious, imagined all possible scenarios and constantly checked the company’s revenues, costs and investments. They acted strategically and focused on their cooperation with the business partners. “We were more concerned about the signals we received from industry and partners than from the public.”

During the crisis, the company continued to operate cautiously and this proved to be successful. “It has been proven that in our industry things have quickly returned to normal parameters and that any measure to stop or reduce the activity, investments, or the recruitment process would have had a negative impact on the evolution of the company in the medium and long term”, said Horațiu Țepeș, Bilka CEO. The team has kept the same mobility it has always had, which is why they adapted quickly, found opportunities in the new context of the pandemic, and where they didn’t find them – they created them.

“Responsibility has become one of the most important company values around which the entire organizational culture is built.”, Horațiu Țepeș, CEO, Bilka

A company with deeply rooted values

The most important value that characterizes the company is “responsibility”. It is about “Responsibility towards customers and partners through the products we make, responsibility towards the employees through the jobs and conditions we offer, and responsibility towards the community in which we operate through the social responsibility actions we take” according to the company’s management.

In the 13 years of activity on the Romanian market, the company’s production and storage halls have reached an area of 140,000 sqm. Bilka Steel’s proudest achievement is roofing 337,000 houses and buildings, a number that will continue to grow year after year given its market leadership since around 2012.

Article published in the “Top 300 Companies” listing by Capital magazine, October 2020. Author: George Alexandru Turcu.