"We have a clear commitment to innovation with a very entrepreneurial view of the world of industry. We are an example of how an almost 300-year-old company can continue to be enterprising." The words of Jordi Mercader Barata, director general of the paper producer, Miquel y Costas, providing a good summary of the business philosophy of the company traditionally devoted to the production of paper for the tobacco industry.
It is a business group that, while being a model in its sector and on the stock market, is discreet with the media and reticent when conceding interviews. VIA Empresa was able to talk to and review the history of a company that has been able to successfully adapt to the demands of the markets.
In the face of continuous falling sales in the tobacco sector —which nevertheless makes up 72% of Miquel y Costas' turnover— the company today maintains the same strategy of the past few years and focuses its efforts on the business of producing specialised paper for industrial uses. Its business activities are distributed between such diverse sectors as food and drink, or the graphic industry, for which they produce information leaflets for medicines, Bibles and Korans.
Quality and added value, keys for maintaining growth
The diversification goes hand-in-hand with a growth strategy that puts added value over the volume of production. "It means investing in technology, R&D and innovation and, above all, quality. This allows us to be suppliers for the main multinational companies of the sectors in which we operate and provide innovative solutions for our clients," points out this industrial engineer and expert in corporate strategy. The papers used to wrap Prada and Chanel handbags and also Zara Online products are proof. "With the tissue paper used to wrap oranges and tangerines, we are capable of bringing a different value and giving it a different use from the traditional one," says the director general of the paper group.
The Terranova Papers plant in La Pobla de Claramunt, which opened in June, is an example of the diversification efforts of this company, whose origins go back to 1725 in Capellades. In this new plant, which required an investment of 45 million euros, is to be found the most advanced inclined wire machine in the world. This new technology allows the company, according to Mercader, "to reach new markets and clients with a demanding need for high-value, specialised paper."
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| Visit by Artur Mas to the Terranova Papers plant. Ceded |
From Terranova Papers comes the paper used for teabags, coffee capsules, car batteries, vacuum cleaner bags or laminated decorations for parquet flooring. Opened in June, this plant provides jobs for 350 employees, both directly and indirectly, and will become 80% operational in September.
Making production more flexible, a present and future aim
The flexibility that Terranova Papers is capable of is one of the aspects that the group wants to further improve in the future, as well as instilling it in the rest of its factories. "Within the technological limits, our intention is to make small investments to make the production capacity of our plants more flexible with the aim of achieving full operational occupancy, more versatility and the ability to adjust to the evolution of global demand," adds the director general of Miquel y Costas. This flexibility also requires a high level of organisation of the staff, who are used to working in shifts. Thus, the location in Anoia is an advantage. "Our plants work 24-hours a day, 350-days a year, for which you need people who are used to working night shifts and at weekends. Anoia has a strong industrial tradition in its DNA and these shifts do not cause a problem," he points out.
In fact, the business sector of this county recognised the work of Miquel y Costas in July, with one of the Anoia Business Union prizes for 2015. With Terranova Papers, the group now has three plants in the county, two in La Pobla and one in Capellades, to which can be added factories in Sant Adrià del Besòs, Tortosa and Valencia. Abroad, the company also has a small plant in Buenos Aires.
Asia and Latin America, two emerging and growing markets
This is no accident. Internationalisation is part of the identity of this company that has more than 300 years of history, and is headed by Jordi Mercader Miró, father of the current director general. "Exporting is part of the group's DNA," says Mercader Barata. In fact, the group has been present in international markets since its inception. At the start of the 20th century, it already had offices in Havana, Chile and New York.
Today, it operates in 100 countries and only 16% of its turnover comes from Spain. South-east Asia, Japan and China, the United States and Latin America are some of the markets that have grown most in the past few years and show good prospects for the future. The group remains attentive to opportunities that may appear internationally. This year, it opened a representative office in the Philippines to be able to respond better to its clients in Asia and the Pacific, while Brazil continues to be an increasingly attractive market for the company. "For the moment, the first tranche of investment will go into setting up a commercial office. After that, once we have seen the volume of business, we will decide if it makes sense to start producing there," says Mercader.
Open to new acquisitions and new markets
In the coming year, Miquel y Costas will face the future with a change of priority relating to its corporate operations and new acquisitions to strengthen its industrial strategy. "We want to go where we can bring added value, that allows us to open new markets adjacent to those we already have and where the technology we have at our disposal can make a real difference," points out the director general of the Miquel y Costas group.
This position, more active in acquisitions of new companies, is one of the pending issues for the next two years, a period during which the company predicts making total investments of between 45 and 60 million euros. It is a quantity that will be used to improve the technology in its plants and minimise costs, reduce its impact on the environment and maintain its spending on R&D and innovation.
Financial autonomy, a guarantee for the future
The future plans are guaranteed by the group's financial autonomy, which has allowed it to make important investments, such as the one in La Pobla de Claramunt. "Our current balance is the product of 25 years, it is not something that has been improvised. It is the result of a long-term strategy and a commitment, not to a financial project, but an industrial one," concludes Mercader.
Miquel y Costas ended 2014 with a turnover of 202.9 million euros and growth of 6.6%. The net profit was 24.69 million, some 8.9% less than the year before.