Sava sales up in 2011

Slovenian tyre maker Sava has reported a 19 per cent growth in local net sales for 2011. The Goodyear subsidiary earned 132 million euros in local markets last year; in total, the company achieved net sales of 264.7 million euros and made a 6.83 million euro net profit.

Thierry Villard, Goodyear Dunlop’s managing director for Central and South Eastern Europe, has expressed his satisfaction with the results, attributing higher sales in Slovenia and other local markets such as Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania as the driver of the company’s overall four per cent increase in tyre sales.

Capital expenditure at Sava amounted to ten million euros last year, bringing the capex total since the company’s initial joint-venture acquisition by Goodyear in 1998 (Sava was 100 per cent acquired by the US tyre maker in 2004) to almost 190 million euros. Villard said more than ten million euros has also been allocated for long-term improvements this year. “We would like to stay one of the most successful foreign investments in Slovenia,” he said. The managing director added that Sava will continue expanding its Vulco retail network in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia.