São Paulo – Exports by Randon group grew 15.7% in the first half of this year as against the same period in 2010, according to the figures disclosed by the company. Foreign sales totalled US$ 130 million. “Exports were mainly boosted by the continued good performance in Latin American and African markets and the strong recovery of lorry, light commercial vechile, trailer and semi-trailer demand in North America, mainly in the United States," said the corporate and investor relations director at the company, Astor Schmitt, on presenting the results on Wednesday (10).
In Africa – in Egypt, Algeria and Morocco -, Randon has assembly lines for semi-trailers shipped disassembled from Brazil. In the Arab world, the group also has offices in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
According to Schmitt, despite the company’s good performance in exports, it has been below that obtained in operations as a whole. “Over the last five years, our exports grew 3.77% a year (on average). They are growing, positive, but slower than Randon sales as a whole,” said the investor relations director.
According to him, this is a symptom of the low competitiveness Brazil finds abroad, due to the appreciation of the Brazilian real as against the dollar and to the “Brazil cost”, which, according to Schmitt, covers from taxes to the lack of quality infrastructure. "Yes, we are expanding, we are going to continue trying to export, but difficulties and challenges are growing,” he said. According to the director, there are no perspectives for greater growth in exports in the second half of the year, due to lack of competitiveness.
Of the total exported by the company in the first half, US$ 50.9 million were vehicles and implements, a sector that, individually, grew 24.4% over the first six months of last year. Auto parts totalled US$ 79.2 million in foreign sales, expanding just 10.7%.
Records
Between January and June this year, Randon had record production, revenues and results, according to information disclosed by the company. The company’s gross revenues reached 3.1 billion reals (US$ 1.9 billion), with growth of 21% over the same months in 2010; consolidated revenues reached 2 billion reals (US$ 1.2 billion), with growth of 20.6%; consolidated gross profit reached 529.5 million reals (US$ 327 million), with growth of 28.5%; consolidated net profit was 155.9 million reals (US$ 96 million), with growth of 51.3%; and consolidated Ebidtda (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) totalled 315 million reals (US$ 194 million), growth of 23.2%.
According to Schmitt, the rates obtained by the group should be maintained in 2011, but some cooling is expected in the general performance in the second half. He stated that the economic scenery points in that direction, with lower Brazilian growth rates and governmental decisions in those lines, with less credit available, growing interest rates, lower job generation and higher salaries. The director stated that it is still too early to evaluate recent happenings, referring to the crisis faced by European and North American markets.
The company, however, has an order portfolio totalling three months of production and forecasted revenues for next year are 5.9 billion reals (US$ 3.6 billion). "We may do so and with profitability,” said Schmitt. The exports forecasted for next year are US$ 250 million and investment should reach R$ 270 million reals (US$ 167 million). According to the corporate director, up to the end of the first half, investment in expansion, modernisation, innovation and technology, as well as replacement of depreciated assets, among others, reached 98.1 million reals (US$ 61 million).
*Translated by Mark Ament
