Cersanit, which jointly with controlled Opoczno, is Poland’s largest tile and sanitary taps and fittings producer, signed agreement with European Bank of Reconstruction and Development to lend EUR 80.8m. The funds will go to Cersanit’s Ukrainian unit, i.e. Cersanit Invest, and will be spent to build a new facility.
“The project is worth EUR 99m”, Michal Solowow, the well-known stock investor and Cersanit’s biggest shareholder said.
Operations will be launched this year, full capacity will be reached in 2008 and amount to 7m square meters of tiles and 1m items of sanitary taps and fittings annually.
“It will let us generate PLN 300m of sales in 2008”, Michal Solowow believes.
Last year, Cersanit had PLN 760m of sales and PLN 147m of net income. The project is just the first stage of Ukrainian investments. When the plant is ready, it will be developed to double capacity. This project will cost EUR 50m. Cersanit considers yet another project – in Russia.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.261)