OREANDA-NEWS. July 7, 2011. GAZ Group, the largest Russian manufacturer of commercial vehicles, has summed up 2010 results according to the International Financial Reporting Standards. The company finished the year with net profit raising the revenue by 47%, increased sales volumes in all segments and retained leadership of the Russian commercial vehicles market.

The 2010 revenue of GAZ Group was RUR 96.7 bln. which is 47% higher vs. 2009. Growth of sales volumes and higher business efficiency allowed the company to reach EBITDA positive margin of 9.7% and to get net profit of RUR 2.1 bln. As for the EBITDA margin, GAZ is approaching the level of the pre-crisis period: in 2007, the most successful year for the company in terms of sales, this figure was 10.8%. 

In 2010 the productivity at the company's plants increased by 88%: in 2010 the revenue per employee amounted to RUR 140 thousand vs. RUR 75 thousand in 2009 (average per month). Having increased the profitability the company considerably improved the net debt to EBITDA ratio which was 4.1 in 2010.

Last year GAZ Group renewed the model range in all segments and radically improved the product quality. It allowed the company to increase sales of all types of products.  In the markets of Russia, CIS and other countries sales of light commercial vehicles increased by 32%, heavy-duty vehicles - by 48%, buses - by 10%, construction and road-building equipment - by 21%.

The sales of GAZelle and Sobol light commercial vehicles in the Russian market in 2010 were 61.3 thousand units vs. 42.3 thousand units in 2009. The growth was 45% while the general growth of the Russian market in this segment was just 32% (according to the Association of European Businesses in Russia).

The company has retained leadership in the commercial vehicles market: about 50% in the light commercial vehicles segment, about 70% in the bus segment, about 45% in the heavy-duty vehicles segment. The company has also strengthened its positions in the Russian powertrain and automotive components market.

Bo Andersson, President of GAZ Group: "I am proud to announce that the team of GAZ Group reached positive results B 2010. We had the following tasks: to improve product quality, to increase sales, to launch new products, to increase labour productivity, to raise EBITDA, to get net profit and to reinforce GAZ Group's strategy. We have fulfilled these tasks. Still, we have a lot of things to do to achieve successful results in the future. Our main task remains to understand the customer needs and to develop our own commercial vehicles model range according to these needs and the specifics of the Russian market".