Fiľo improves his paper business
Hygienic paper goods maker SHP Group (Milan Fiľo) increased its sales from €113m in 2016 to last year’s €206m, mainly thanks to its acquisition of the Slovenian paper mill Paloma, with €90m annual sales. Its existing plants (in Harmanec and Slavošovce, Celex in Bosna and Intim-Papir in Croatia) improved their sales by 5%. In 2011-16 the group posted a cumulative loss of €8m, mainly due to losing its position in the premium segment. SHP sells a large chunk of its output under retailers’ private brands, e.g., it exports 26% of its output to Germany in this way. New management is trying to change this, and last year the group posted a €1.3m profit. It is planning a €50m investment in Paloma to increase its production capacity by 28% to 90,000 tons annually. The Harmanec plant is preparing a €10m investment to increase capacity by a third to 60,000 tons. SHP plans to increase its sales to €280m in 2020, making it the 8th-largest hygienic paper group in the EU.
