Polish glassmaker Irena plans to increase its net profit by 28% in 1997, the company“s forecast said. According to Irena“s management, 1997 glass sales are expected to grow by 30-40%.
Irena SA expe…
Polish glassmaker Irena plans to increase its net profit by 28% in 1997, the company“s forecast said. According to Irena“s management, 1997 glass sales are expected to grow by 30-40%. Irena SA expects to lift 1997 net profits to a total of Zl 9.1 million on sales of Zl 80.5 million from a predicted net figure of Zl 7.1 million on sales of Zl 58 million for 1996, the firm“s president Boleslaw Felczak said. He told a news conference that Irena had invested virtually all the Zl 19 million from its 1994 share issue, much going to the installation of a new soda glass production line to become operative by June 1997. Zl 6 million were spent in 1996 on a new crystal glass oven. “The realisation of our development and our marketing strategy will allow us to make a net profit about 30% higher than in 1996,” Felczak said, referring to 1997 earnings. Felczak said the oven“s start-up costs and a strengthening zloty were largely responsible for the firm“s poor earnings in the first half of 1996, reflected in a third-quarter operating profit of Zl 2 million against Zl 0.8 million in the first quarter. Felczak told Reuters that the firm planned to invest another 15-18 million zlotys in 1997 and 1998, for which a new share or bond issue was possible. He also said Irena, whose full name is Huta Szkla Gospodarczego Irena SA, was planning to buy stakes in firms in the glass industry.