BUOYED by the excellent response that the Milano sanitary ware and fittings have received in the market, Danube Group intends to further expand the range this year.

Milano, Danube’s own brand, was launched by the group in a bid to offer the market quality products at cost-competitive prices, according to Rizwan Sajan, chairman of Danube Group.

Ironically, the product has done very well due to the recession, as budgets have reduced and contractors have been looking for quality products at lower prices, he says.

Sajan continues: “Our product is comparable to any major brand in the market but comes with a 40 to 50 per cent lower price tag. The range is also performing well because of the Danube name behind it.

“The Milano brand was conceived in Italy, with all designs and some manufacturing having been carried out in Italy. However, because of the cost factor, we are also manufacturing the range in Malaysia, China, Thailand and India.”
From a small trading firm that started operation in the early 1990s, Danube is today a leading player in the building material, interior decoration and shop-fitting industry.

Last year, the company witnessed a 25 per cent growth in revenues despite the challenges faced by the construction industry due to the global economic slowdown. In 2009, the company reported a revenue of Dh1 billion ($272.26 million).

“We consider this a major achievement for us as the sector we are part of has been hit by the recession,” says Sajan. “This year, with the strategy we have lined up, we are targeting around Dh1.5 billion to Dh1.6 billion ($408.39 million to $435.62 million) as revenues, which is equivalent to a growth rate of around 25 to 30 per cent over 2010.”

“In 2008-2009 when the recession first hit the market, we did not know which direction to take. However, we have managed to surmount the problems we had anticipated at the time. In 2010, we bounced back and now the market is looking good, with projects being launched. Sectors such as hospitality and retail are doing well. We expect the construction sector to gain strength soon as the worse is over,” says Sajan.

The company’s strategy during the slowdown has been to focus on its existing as well as potential markets in the region. “The UAE currently accounts for 50 per cent of our business but we are not depending on any one market. A majority of business last year came from Abu Dhabi, Oman and Saudi Arabia.”

The company has plans to open 10 more branches, with an increasing focus on Saudi Arabia, Oman and then Qatar.
Danube also continuously adds new products to its portfolio. Currently, there are more than 25,000 products under its umbrella, with plywood and timber being a major area of focus followed by steel, hardware and sanitary ware.

Its other plans for the year include boosting its product range with additional ‘green’ products. Danube, Sajan points out, was the first company in the UAE to register itself as official trader for green products.

“We are constantly working towards adding more green products as that is the future. The current focus is on wood products; we have also identified a few sanitary ware products and are working towards adding them.”

Meanwhile, Danube’s 1.3-million-sq-ft factory project in TechnoPark is moving ahead full steam and is expected to be functional later this year. The industrial complex, being developed at the cost of Dh50 million ($13.61 million), will comprise seven state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and a massive custom-designed warehouse to store a wide range of structural steel and wood products.

The seven specialised manufacturing facilities include melamine MDF (medium-density fibreboard) pressing plant; impregnation and décor plyline facility; gypsum tile cutting plant; gypsum ceiling tile manufacturing plant; gypsum board stud and track plant; glass tempering and polishing plant; and an aluminium profile manufacturing plant.

Danube started its operations in 1993 and in 2001 moved to Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafz) north where it established a 285,000-sq-ft facility, which includes its state-of-the-art global headquarters and a well-equipped modern logistics centre. To meet its exponential growth, Danube added a 365,000-sq-ft facility in Jafz south which includes a warehouse, kiln-drying facility for seasoning of wood and high-tech joinery.

Over the years, the company has grown into one of the largest building materials company in the region, with 25 branches worldwide – 17 in the UAE, one in Saudi Arabia, two each in Bahrain and Oman and three in India, in addition to procurement offices in China and Canada.

It has a team of 1,250 people working from strategic locations across the UAE. Some of the projects the company has been associated with include the Emirates Hills, Burj Al Arab, Shangri-La Hotel, Grand Hyatt, Motor City, Burj Dubai, Dubai Airport Terminal 3, Yas Island, Reem Island, Saadiyat Island and Al Raha Beach Hotel, among others.

Last year the company won three awards: Dubai Quality Appreciation Award, MRM (Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum) Business Award and the Businessman of the Year Award, in recognition of its quality and excellence in leadership, strategy, customer, workforce and talent management.