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COMPANY BRIEFS
MOL ACQUIRES FILLING STATIONS IN HUNGARY AND POLAND
Hungarian oil and gas enterprise MOL Group has signed an agreement to acquire Normbenz Hungary Ltd, which operates 79 service stations in Hungary under the Lukoil brand. MOL has also signed an agreement with Grupa Lotos SA and PKN Orlen to acquire 417 service stations in Poland. The Lukoil agreement follows an acquisition in March 2021, when Slovnaft, the Slovak subsidiary of the MOL Group, acquired 100% of Normbenz Slovakia s.r.o. and 16 Lukoil-branded service stations in Slovakia. "This acquisition is important for us for several reasons. On the one hand, it gives us the opportunity to optimize our operations in several countries, on the other hand, it further strengthens our regional positions and supports the implementation of our long-term corporate strategy, in which we are giving a prominent role to our Consumer Services business," Managing Director of MOL Group Consumer Services, Péter Ratatics said. With the Polish transaction, MOL enters the 10th country with its retail business, increasing its portfolio from 1,943 to 2,390 service stations and its retail network is now bordered by three seas: the Adriatic, the Baltic and the Black Sea. The company operates its service stations across the region under five brands, including the recently acquired 120 OMV Slovenija and the 95 new Lukoil stations in Slovakia and Hungary. These transactions are subject to regulatory approval. Following the closing of the deal, MOL will become a dominant player in the Polish retail fuel market, with a number of service stations that exceeds the Hungarian market.
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NEW LOGISTICS CENTER FOR MARSO IN DUNAHARASZTI
The largest investment ever made by tire distributor MARSO Ltd., the firm's logistics center in Dunaharaszti, just south of Budapest, was inaugurated at the end of January. MARSO Ltd, one of the largest tire distributors in Hungary and owner of the MARSOPONT service network, has taken advantage of the positive economic effects and processes of the past years. Especially in the field of passenger tire sales, there has been an outstanding development both in terms of volume and profitability. The significant and rapid growth has also been accompanied by a large increase in stocks. This has led to a daily requirement to increase storage capacity. The increase in storage needs in recent years has therefore presented the company with a major challenge. The increase in turnover, changes in customer needs, and the open-air storage of freight and agricultural tires, had already raised the need for warehouse expansion in the Budapest region many years ago. "As a major player in the market, we clearly see our role, responsibility and place in the tire market supply chain and accordingly, we are trying to improve our operations in areas where we see a need for improvement," Tibor Márkus, Commercial Director and one of the second generation owners of MARSO Ltd. summarized. A decision was made in 2019 that MARSO Ltd.'s warehousing and logistics situation needed to be resolved in the long term in order to ensure further stable operations and to maintain and expand its current market positions in the long term.
HUF 600 MILLION INVESTMENT IN TÖRÖKSZENTMIKLÓS
Kunsági Mill Ltd. in Törökszentmiklós, E Hungary, has improved its milling technology, and a HUF 600 million investment has increased the company's wheat storage capacity by 10,000 tons, the company said in a statement sent to the state news agency MTI this January. According to the information, Kunsági Mill won a nonrefundable grant of almost HUF 200 million for the investment in the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Program (Ginop) tender (supported by European Union funding), and also received a refundable loan of almost HUF 200 million. The company contributed around HUF 200 million of its own resources to the investment. Thanks to the investment, the existing storage capacity of 35,000 tons of wheat has been increased by 10,000 tons, and a modern, high-performance receiving and cleaning system has been built. “The worn-out cleaning system and milling technology of the mill, which has stored around one and a half million tons of grain over the past 25 years, have been renewed and its capacity expanded. The production of rye, spelt and wholemeal wheat flour to meet modern nutritional needs has been modernized, and the sieve system has been replaced with modern, more powerful equipment," the statement said. The increased output, improved hygiene requirements and a wider range of products are all designed to meet the needs of the population and consumers. The company, which employs 41 people, sells to several countries in the European Union, mainly Romania, but also has a market outside the European Union. 70% of its products are sold domestically, 30% are exported. The company's profile was expanded in 2019 with the addition of a corn mill in nearby Karcag. The modern technology allows the production of both edible and industrial maize flours, grits, special extrusion products. To meet modern nutritional needs, a separate mill is operated, producing high-fiber rye, spelt, wholemeal wheat and graham grits. According to the public company data, the net sales revenue of Kunsági Mill Ltd. in 2020 was HUF 6.571 billion, and its profit after tax was HUF 312 million. In the previous year, 2019, it had a turnover of HUF 5.055 billion and a profit of HUF 218 million.
HCL Technologies (HCL), a leading global technology company, signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Starschema, a leading provider of data engineering services, based in Budapest. The strategic acquisition will bolster HCL’s capability in digital engineering – driven by data engineering – and increase its presence in Central and Eastern Europe. Starschema provides consulting, technology and managed services in data engineering to Global 2000 companies in the U.S. and Europe, according to a statement by HCL Technologies. The acquisition combines Starschema’s high-value capabilities and data-focused expertise with HCL’s existing presence in industry segments undergoing data-driven transformation. In addition, HCL will strengthen its position in data engineering, which is an integral part of the company’s digital engineering capabilities and nextgeneration offerings. “Joining HCL will enable us to keep our strategic focus and expand our data engineering capacity to provide a greater breadth and depth of services to clients,” the founder and CEO of Starschema, Tamás Földi said. “As part of HCL’s full spectrum of technology services, we will leverage our expertise in data engineering and emerging data technologies to solve companies’ data challenges, through building fast, scalable solutions that make people more effective and companies more profitable. This strategic move also represents exemplary career growth opportunities for our people," he added. According to Vijay Guntur, President, Engineering and R&D Services at HCL Technologies, “Starschema will strengthen our data engineering capabilities, providing us with the ability to leverage its solutions and talent in Central and Eastern Europe. Starschema’s capabilities will further scale HCL’s data engineering competencies at our integrated delivery centers across the world. Engineering talent will continue to remain in high demand, and Starschema offers a specialized talent pool in a strategic growth area for HCL. Following the acquisition, HCL will be able to offer data engineering consulting and near-shore access to digital engineering services to a wide base of clients.” The transaction is subject to regulatory clearance from the Hungarian Ministry of Innovation and Technology and is expected to close in March 2022.
company briefs
LIDL HUNGARY INAUGURATES NEW LOGISTICS CENTER
Lidl Hungary's fourth and largest 62,000m² logistics center was inaugurated in Ecser, Pest County at the end of January. The company received a HUF 1.2 billion non-refundable investment promotion grant from the government for the HUF 36 billion investment that is to create more than 400 new jobs in the region. It was in the summer of 2020 that Lidl Hungary announced the start of the large-scale investment, which is now been completed and the first deliveries of goods made on January 28. Beforehand, the company supplied the country's 190 Lidl stores, and thus Hungarian households throughout Hungary, from three logistics centers: in Székesfehérvár, Szigetszentmiklós and Hejőkürt. From now on, the new warehouse in Ecser will be responsible for serving more than 60 stores in Budapest and the surrounding area. The building has a floor area of 62,000 square meters, equivalent to the size of nine soccer pitches – of which more than 21,000 square meters, or three football pitch-sized, refrigerated areas, were built. Its highest point is at 21 meters, equivalent to seven stories. As an indication of the new warehouse's turnover, it will handle 200,000 pallets in a month and can accommodate up to 5,000 trucks. According to the company, the dynamic development has made the discount chain the 11th largest company in Hungary in terms of the number of employees. It provides competitive wages for more than 8,500 employees and has spent more than HUF 27 billion on wage improvements over the past four years.
HUNENT PLC. POULTRY EXPORTS TO FLY HIGH
A waterfowl further processing unit will be added to the plant in Mélykút, Southern Hungary and efficiency boosting investments will be carried out by Hunent Víziszárnyas Feldolgozó ('Waterfowl Processing') Plc. in the value of HUF 6.5 billion, about a third of which is to be covered by Hungarian taxpayers through a government decision. As a result, capacity is set to go up significantly, and export sales are bound to fly high. The Hungarian food industry, which is of strategic importance, is going to be enriched by yet another technology intensive investment. Hunent Plc., a business in sole Hungarian ownership, is member of one of Hungary's top waterfowl producing and selling corporate groups, Bács-Tak Group, and it has 150 years of tradition. The company plans to execute its newly announced developments until November 2023. Currently, 10-11 million joint ducks and around 300,000-400,000 geese per year are processed by Hunent Plc. Due to the capacity M increase by the new waterfowl further processing plant unit, the yearly output of fried, cured and marinated products should go from 700 tons to over 1,200 tons; moreover, production volume of primarily produced products (that are packaged raw, or sold cooled or frozen) should soar by 10%. Besides, new automation boosting equipment will give further impetus to productivity. Up to 75% of the total production volume is already delivered for export which ratio is expected to grow by 5-10% thanks to the investment. Thus, it is planned that ever more waterfowl would find its way to foreign markets, mainly onto the shelves of German and English stores.
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BUDAPEST AIRPORT ON COURSE TOWARDS ZERO EMISSIONS
In 2021, Budapest Airport once again took huge steps to maintain its carbon neutral operations and achieve its sustainability goals. Last year, the company further reduced its direct carbon dioxide emissions, which are now half the level of ten years ago, while emissions per passenger were only one third of 2011 levels, the operator of the Hungarian capital's Ferenc Liszt International Airport said in a statement. As the airport operator is committed to sustainable growth and environmental protection, in 2019, it officially joined ACI’s ‘NetZero by 2050’ initiative, a commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions from its operations by 2050 at the latest. However, Budapest Airport announced last October that with the help of its net emissions reductions scheme, it is working hard to reduce its net emissions to zero up to 15 years ahead of the current deadline of 2050, by 2035. With this commitment, Budapest Airport aims to become the first airport in the region to achieve net zero carbon emissions, setting an example for other European airport operators. In order to reduce the environmental impact of the airport the most effectively, Budapest Airport launched its Greenairport program in 2015. The aim of the 40 partners participating in the initiative is for the airport and the organizations operating there to work together and help each other reduce their carbon footprint and the general impact of their operations on the environment. The main aim of the program is to reduce the airport’s carbon footprint by reducing energy use, creating opportunities for renewable energy, developing electric mobility, reducing water consumption, phasing out singleuse plastics, and encouraging selective waste collection and waste reduction at the airport.
EURONICS: SALES UP OVER 11% IN 2021
Retail sales at the technical goods chain Euronics in Hungary increased by more than 11% to HUF 71 billion last year compared to the previous year, the highest annual turnover in the history of the chain. According to the Hungarian-owned company, sales through its webshop exceeded the 2020 performance by almost 20%, while the majority of sales came from the nationwide network of 64 specialty stores, which also showed double-digit growth compared to the previous year. There were no changes in the most popular products compared to the previous year. In terms of turnover, TVs over 32 inches (81 cm) were still the best-selling last year, followed by pre-fill washing machines and combi fridges with sub-fridge freezers. In a company statement, Euronics' commercial managing director, Bálint Fazekas said that learning from the difficulties of the pandemic in 2020, they planned much longer ahead and Diplomacy-n-Trade.ai 1 2017. 02. 27. 11:22:30 increased their purchases when the opportunity arose. The company also added new product categories to its range. The garden and DIY range, launched in 2020, became a driver of company growth in 2021, with category sales more than five times higher than the previous year, he said. Around 1,200 of the new e-bike products in the e-mobility category were sold in 2021. The drug and chemical category is cited as one of the new hit products, and there are also high hopes for the sports and toys categories, which were launched at the end of the year, according to the statement. The commercial director said that the aim is that when someone buys a household appliance, he or she can also buy the accessories and related products that go with it.
