Unilever invests further in Hungary

Unilever has announced its plans to invest a further Ft 2 bn (€7.7m) into its cosmetics and household chemicals plant in Northeast Hungary in order to boost production in the area.

The managing director for the Central and Eastern European region announced plans this week during the UK ambassador to Hungary's visit to the plant this week, according to press reports.

Hungarian plant increases customer base

The plant's output will be increased from 150m units to 220m units as a result of the investment, however the number of jobs provided by the plant will remain the same, said plant director Francesco Azzara.

As a result of the move, the plant should be able to serve customers throughout Europe, he added.

The statement comes shortly after the Anglo-Dutch company announced plans to restructure in order to increase its profitability.

In particular the firm intends to reorganise itself in a manner that reflects its strategic focus on growth in developing markets.

Company focus on emerging markets Under the new plan Central & Eastern Europe will be managed within an enlarged high growth region comprising of Asia, Africa and Central & Eastern Europe.

Bringing the emerging markets under one management umbrella will enable the company to benefit from the fact that the different countries share similar market developments and have comparable potential for growth.

Plans to combine Home & Personal Care and Foods into a single category are hoped to improve productivity, reflecting the many crossovers between the segments.

Commenting on the restructuring Patrick Cescau, Group Chief Executive said: "These measures build naturally on the changes of recent years and give us an organizational structure even better placed to advance our growth agenda."