Buende. A gross sales increase of 6.2 %, significant growth both at home and abroad – with this result for the financial year 2009 Arnold André, The Cigar Company, has a placed a big exclamation mark on the market. Compared with the previous year the company was able to increase the overall volume of EUR 335 million to EUR 356 million (an increase of + 6.3 %) for cigars sold from their own manufacture. Gross sales amounted to EUR 75.6 million in 2009 compared to EUR 65 million in 2008.
Precisely in view of the ongoing tense business environment the management of the tradition-rich Bünde-based company is more than happy with this thor-oughly positive result.
In this, the Managing Directors Rainer Goehner and Wiljo van Maren see con-firmation of the current corporate policy: “The comprehensive smoking bans and last but not least the economic crisis that is still having major repercussions have changed the consumer behaviour of smokers quite significantly. Fortu-nately, our product policy response to this development has been timely. The result for the economic year ending shows that the decisions we have made were the right ones. The strong revival of domestic demand can be attributed above all to our new mini sizes under the Clubmaster brand and the favoura-bly priced 1 EUR products of the traditional
Handelsgold brand”.
Significant growth in France
An important driver of the company”s positive development continues to be the export trade taking up an almost 50 % share of the company”s overall turnover. Here in particular it is worthwhile taking a closer look at the French market. With a turnover increase of 12.6 % it has been possible to conquer a considerable share of the market – even the more remarkable considering that in 2009 the overall cigar consumption of the French dropped by as much as 3.2 %.
With 71.6 million cigars sold in 2009 (compared with 64.3 million in 2008) the French market since represents around one fifth of Arnold André”s overall turnover. According to the Managing Director Wiljo van Maren this success is not least due to the dedication and commitment of the 22 staff members working at its France-based sales company.
Altogether, in the remaining export markets – above all in Spain and Portugal – a turnover growth of 4.6 % has been achieved.
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