Bilka, the roofing manufacturer owned by Horațiu Țepeș, opens a factory of insulated panels

The roofing manufacturer Bilka in Brașov has invested EUR 5 million in 2020 and will deliver a new insulated panels factory next year

In the first nine months of 2020, Bilka Steel recorded sales of RON 595 million (i.e. EUR 122 million), after a 20% increase compared to the same period last year.

Roofing manufacturer Bilka Steel in Brașov, owned by businessman Horațiu Țepeș, invested EUR 5 million this year, part of a larger investment project started last year.

“This year we continued, as planned, the investments we had underway for the development of the industrial sector, and the total investment in 2020 amounted to EUR 5 million. The development project totals more than EUR 25 million. Postponing or cancelling investments amid the pandemic would have been a mistake that would have cost us future development,” says Horațiu Țepeș.

Thus, the company has planned investments in the coming years as well. Bilka is engaged in a large investment plan, totaling EUR 25 million, which should result in the expansion of production capacities for the development of the industrial product division. Two years ago, the company acquired the industrial platform Hidromecanica 2 Brașov, next to the halls it already owned, in order to expand.

“The investment plan for 2021 aims to complete the first stage in the development of the industrial construction product division, following which we will open the insulated panels factory and other profiles for use in industrial construction, and then we will start other stages of investment to further develop the product range.”

In the first nine months of 2020, Bilka Steel recorded sales of RON 595 million (i.e. EUR 122 million), after a 20% increase compared to the same period last year.

“Although in March-April (2020 — editor’s note), sales were down due to the state of emergency, since May business has recovered, we have resumed the normal delivery conditions and have exceeded our initial forecasts for the first nine months. For the end of the year, we expect to maintain the growth rate of the first nine months, a business development of more than EUR 167 million, about 20% more compared to the level reported last year. We have come through this period, in the context of the pandemic, much better than was estimated at the beginning”, also says Horațiu Țepeș.

However, the economic, political and health uncertainty of this autumn means that the contractor is cautious about his plans for next year.

“For our business model, it is important to have significant growths on all lines: the residential division, the industrial division, national sales or exports, as was the case this year. This ensures that external factors do not strongly affect the business, which also makes us optimistic for the evolution of company’s sales next year.”

In addition to investments in production, Bilka Steel is also focusing on digitization and technological processes at the company level to streamline the way of working.

“We’ve run all our scenarios and we’re prepared for the worst-case scenario. We have looked and continue to look constantly at revenues, costs, investments and the size of the apparatus, but in all this time we have taken no action based on fear of what will be. We have mainly focused on the signals we received from industry and partners than on the ones from the public space.”

Bilka Steel officials have taken precautionary and hygienic measures for the safety of employees, measures that have since become a habit. The company employs 550 people, including 350 in production, all in Brașov, where the factory is located.

Article published in Ziarul Financiar, on 27th October 2020, author: Alina-Elena Vasiliu