French glass bottle manufacturer SGD announced at the end of April 2009 that it has decided to focus on the production of baby-bottles at its site in Mers-les-Bains, northern France.
The French marke…
French glass bottle manufacturer SGD announced at the end of April 2009 that it has decided to focus on the production of baby-bottles at its site in Mers-les-Bains, northern France. The French market for baby bottles is estimated at 6.6 million per year. The present offer consists almost entirely of plastic bottles, but SGD hopes that the demand for glass bottles will rise after the recent debate on the use of the potentially dangerous chemical compound BPA in their production. Output capacity of the company is between 120,000 and 250,000 baby bottles per day and a stock of 500,000 pieces has already been prepared. SGD saw a 10% decrease in sales in the last quarter of 2008, and since January 2009, revenue has registered a 30% due to its traditional markets of perfumery and drugstores recording sharp declines in demand. SGD posted revenues of EUR 631 million in 2008 and believes it will be difficult to keep the same levels in 2009. The company does not make forecasts regarding net profit, which totalled EUR 10 million in 2008, while operating profit was EUR 45 million. The company said it will invest EUR 40 million in 2009, particularly in quality control.