The years of crisis have been exceptionally successful for Čateks, which has achieved record results in the last two years, the best in the last 20 years. Last year, revenue amounted to 116.7 million kuna, and the year before it was 115.5 million kuna. Compared to 2019, there was a growth of almost 30 percent. Profit also increased during this period, about 1.5 times.
This is a well-known textile company that generates 76 percent of its revenue in foreign markets. They export to almost all EU countries and England, but their most significant markets are Germany, England, Spain, and Slovenia. The company produces raw fabric and materials of special purpose with higher added value. It is divided into three production centers: Textiles, which consists of weaving and finishing fabrics, Politeks, which consists of coating and laminating, and Confection.
Davor Sabolić, the director of Čateks, says that the company has managed to realize all business plans despite all the problems, primarily thanks to the successful implementation of business restructuring that was completed back in 2018. This year, he expects the continuation of good business, unless a possible recession due to rising inflation slows it down.
We see our optimism certainly in a series of development projects we have initiated, based on which we also base our current investments and modernization of the machinery park. The biggest problem we currently face is the exponential rise in electricity prices by 400-500 percent, as well as natural gas prices by more than 500 percent, which is the current market price. Such prices will burden operating costs in the second half of this year, considering that we are still operating under the old prices contracted in 2020. We are also monitoring potential problems we might face if there are reductions in energy supplies due to the announced embargo measures by the EU, which would negatively impact availability and prices, says Sabolić.
He tells us that the company has been very active in investing in recent years. Initially, they started with infrastructure investments (replacing the old boiler room with a new one, replacing the water pumping and compressor station), optimizing energy costs. A total of over eight million kuna has been invested for this purpose. Last year, there were, according to Sabolić, very significant investments worth over 20 million kuna in the modernization of the Textiles plant. A new fabric washing machine was purchased, as well as a new dryer. They also started implementing a new ERP system that will be launched this year, which will replace the old information system as it was no longer sufficient to monitor all activities and business processes. They plan to continue modernization but also align business processes with new EU directives, primarily related to environmental protection and occupational safety.
