SCA Hygiene Products of eastern Slovakia's Gemerska Horka estimates its net earnings for 1999 at 35 million crowns, based on sales of 2.2 billion crowns ($48 million). Sales increased 2% over the same time last year, with exports accounting for 86%, the company's finance director, Anna Balažová, reported December 8.
The company's performance this year has been affected by the phasing out of old technology and by the launching of new capital investment projects. "This year we have concluded the construction of a new production hall, including the installment of technologies, and we have renovated an administrative building," Balažová said.
Among the negative influences on the company's performance were the unstable exchange rate of the Slovak crown and the recession on the markets of eastern Europe. Basic changes in the company's production were seen in the halt in production of children's diapers and a new focus on the manufacture of sanitary napkins.
SCA employs more than 300 people with an average monthly wage of 13,500 crowns in a region with one of the highest unemployment rates in Slovakia. It posted losses in 1998 of 220 million crowns on 2.15 billion crowns in turnover.
