Romania Feed

Otter Distribution, one of the largest players on the local footwear retail market, has expanded its network opening a Tezyo store and a Salamander store in AFI Brasov shopping center following an investment of EUR225,000.

Housing prices, demand, supply and real estate deals recovered visibly in the third quarter of 2020 after the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions, a market report by Imobiliare.ro showed Wednesday.

Supermarket and hypermarket chains are the lifeline of the companies in the food and drink service industry as the number of COVID-19 cases is rising and restaurants, cafés and bars have to comply with an increasing number of restrictions to be able to operate.

The companies in the construction sector in Romania posted more than 107 billion lei revenue in 2019, ZF has calculated from the country’s National Statistics Institute. The revenue grew by 27% compared with 2018 and by 14% compared with 2009.

Do-it-yourself retailer Brico Depot posted 9% like-for-like growth in sales in the first half of 2020 and the online sales contributed a lot to the total.

Romanian cosmetics brand Cupio, launched by Raluca and Razvan Stefanescu in 2012, reached a network of 18 stores after a recent opening in the AFI Brasov shopping center, opened this month.

Management solutions and business process outsourcing service provider Sykes Enterprises Eastern Europe, part of the US-held Sykes group, is looking to hire 112 people at its office in Cluj-Napoca, according to the local employment agency.

Romania's finance ministry on Tuesday raised EUR1.647 billion, more than double its target, selling euro-denominated bonds maturing in November 2022 on the local market at an average yield of 0.39%, central bank data showed.

Real estate developer Iulius Group, owned by businessman Iulian Dascalu, has changed its plan for the tallest office building in Romania, under construction in the Iulius Town compound in Timisoara.

Romania's general consolidated budget posted a deficit of RON67.27 billion, or 6.36% of the gross domestic product, finance ministry data showed Tuesday.

Parcel delivery service company DPD Romania, one of the largest courier service firms on the local market, has invested nearly EUR500,000 in a warehouse of 3,000 square meters located in the town of Bragadiru, near the capital city of Bucharest, where it seeks to employ 100 couriers and sorters.

The car assembly plant in Mioveni of Romanian Automobile Dacia, owned by France's Renault, has started the production of the third generation of Sandero Stepway and Logan models, considering their upcoming commercial launch, according to Ziarul Financiar.

Brasov-based roofing systems manufacturer Bilka Steel, owned by businessman Horatiu Tepes, has invested EUR5 million in 2020, part of an ampler investment project set off in the past years, according to Ziarul Financiar.

Wholesaler El Grupo Número 1, the biggest franchisor in Spain, has leased a warehouse of 3,000 square meters within the P3 Bucharest A1 industrial park and will be exclusive wholesaler in Romania for clearance items of most famous Spanish fashion brands.

Arcese, an Italian group specialized in the transport of goods by land, sea and air, has leased 6,500 square meters of storage space within WDP Park Dragomiresti, a park developed by Belgian warehouse developer and operator WDP in Dragomiresti, near the capital city Bucharest.

NN Pensii, the largest private pension manager in Romania, calls for the distribution of RON2 million as dividends from car parts producer Compa Sibiu (CMP.RO), and for the approval of a program for the repurchase of 20 million shares to reduce the share capital by cancelling the repurchased shares.

Europeans' concerns regarding their financial and employment problems diminished in the first four months since the first COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the authorities have eased, according to Deloitte State of Consumer Tracker survey, with two-thirds of respondents being more open to the idea of making large purchases and more relaxed about the stability of their job. Nevertheless, Europeans are still as concerned about their physical well-being as they were during the lockdown (47% at the end of August, compared to 48% in May). European trends are in line with the global ones. The survey was conducted on 18,000 respondents from 18 countries, including nine European states - Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Chipita Romania, the largest actor on the croissant market in the country, ended 2019 with almost 501 million lei (EUR105.7 million) revenue, 10% more than in 2018, ZF’s calculations from Finance Ministry data show.

Builder Axa Trans Construct, which is now working on the Colosseum Mall in NW Bucharest, posted 73 million lei revenue in 2019, an increase of 71% on 2018, Finance Ministry data show. The profit almost doubled to RON3.9 million, while the number of employees reached 50.

McDonald’s restaurant chain will continue development in Romania in 2021, but the figures depend on the pandemic, says Paul Dragan, who took over as CEO from Daniel Bloaje this summer.