4 June 2015 Capital.ro
The largest Romanian diary company moved to the regulated market of Bucharest Stock Exchange.
During the inflation of the speculative bubble of 2007, it captured the imagination of the investors, being one of the most visible companies on Rasdaq market. Albalact SA (ALBZ) has become the largest diary company on the diary market in the crisis aftermath, overtaking Danone, and is now taking a step forward on the regulated market of Bucharest Stock Exchange which it intends to use to secure financial in the years to come, according to the declarations of the company’s representatives.
Advancing to a higher category of the capital market comes at the same time with the reduction of the VAT rate for foodstuff to 9% from 24%, which is expected to encourage the sales, says Stéphane Batoux, the CEO of the company whose portfolio accounts for 36.3% of the milk market, leading in the shipments of yogurt with 16.4% and butter, with 12.2%.
“Albalact is a share of reference; it is a company ranked first in the relevant industry”, says Mişu Negriţoiu, President of the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA), who attended the yesterday’s event of BSE to mark the issuer reaching the level of the regulated market. He classified ALBZ share as a blue chip, and said he wouldn’t hesitate to buy it.
“I am such a cow!”, says the sleeping beauty
Albalact is a story about brands. The largest of them is Zuzu, a mark applied on both milk, and yogurts. Batoux recalls that the company used to excel in innovation, previously being the first to sell milk in cartons, and now being again the first to supply milk in 2 l cans with handle. No earlier than last month, Albalact launched Zuzu Bifidus range of yogurt which was available for tasting in the yesterday’s event in the stock exchange too.
Becoming a first rank national player in the dairy industry was marked by the launch of Fulga, whose then impact commercials were shown to the audience again. “I am such a cow!” used to amuse many Romanians watching TV and just learning about the milk sold in cartons with Fulga cow printed on them. Batoux says this brand has not been exploited as much lately, but it preserves its extraordinary further growth potential. In this respect, Fulga cow is the “sleeping beauty” which could support a potential relaunch of Albalact sales at one point in time.