German-owned brake maker Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems Budapest inaugurated a HUF 5.28 billion expansion at its base in Budapest on Tuesday, state news wire MTI reported.
Knorr-Bremse Managing Director Tivadar Tavaszi said the company started work on the expansion in 2016 and the project was finished this September. The investment added 6,500 square meters of production space and 4,500 sqm of other areas, bringing the total base area to 46,000 sqm. The project raised the headcount by 320 to over 1,500, according to national news agency MTI.
The expansion involved building a production hall and a training workshop. The government provided a HUF 153 million grant for establishing the training workshop, István Lepsényi, minister of state for economic development and regulation at the Ministry for National Economy, said at the event.
The company expects the investment will raise its sales revenue from exports by 33% and the business tax it pays to the local council by 30% to around an annual HUF 900 mln.
Knorr-Bremse last year recorded EUR 205 mln in revenues, and this could rise to EUR 250-260 mln this year and nearly EUR 300 mln in 2018. The parent company has set a profit target of 10% of revenues for its Hungarian unit, Tavaszi said.
Source: bbj.com
