Calling in the cleaners

Rather than ending the year with an anticipated net profit of zł.54.5 million, the Police Chemical Plant ran a loss of almost zł.290 million. The company has since taken "steps to create and implement a recovery program, which would allow the company to rebuild a solid foundation," says Andrzej Niewiński, the deputy president of Police's board. Ryszard Siwiec, the president of the board, added, "Our aim is to halt the negative trend and stimulate profits in 2007."

The recovery program covers three fields of operation - improving efficiency of sales and purchasing, cost-cutting and the realization of short-term investments. The company aims to expand its product portfolio, introducing new products like multi-component fertilizers. Police's principal market will remain limited to Poland, however the company plans to expand its activities in Germany, a big importer of Police's products. "Our natural market is Germany and we'd like to move into fertilizers and titanium dioxide there. We may set up a branch in Germany in the future," said Niewiński

Cost-cutting will involve a transaction-performance monitoring system for administrative, production and logistical procedures and the company plans to make investments that could bring results within a year.

The company board estimates that the preliminary results of the recovery program will be seen this year. By 2009, the program is expected to save the company close to zł.30 million a year. "This recovery strategy will give us the chance to look towards Police's future with optimism," declared Niewiński.