Romania Feed

While many hotels and other accommodation facilities used to be booked for winter holidays already at this time of the year, the pandemic took people’s joy of spending Christmas and New Year’s Even in large groups away. Many reservations have been cancelled and hotel owners are not sure how things will go as people prefer to spend their holidays at home.

Only one major deal has been closed in the construction sector so far in 2020, the takeover of the Steel division of TerraPlast group compared with four such moves in 2019. The construction sector, where deals have been fluctuating in the last few years, took a break this year.

Banks in Romania posted about 4.7 billion lei profit in the first nine months of 2020, their assets reached a new high, while the loan-to-deposit and NPL ratios went down compared with the year-ago period. Solvency reached 22.7%, Romania’s central bank preliminary data show.

Packaging manufacturer Promateris (PPL.RO), formerly known as Prodplast, ended the first nine months of 2020 with a net profit of RON3.9 million, up 70% on the year, and with sales revenue of RON81.7 million, up 51% on the year, per data from the company’s quarterly report.

Individual investors bought RON804.7 million worth of Fidelis government bonds for the general population during an eight-day period, from November 9 until November 18, 2020, brokers' data showed.

Scandinavian furniture and home décor retailer JYSK is continuing its expansion in Romania, by opening a new 1,200-square meter store within the Nova Shopping Park retail complex in Turda (Cluj County), reaching 92 units in Romania.

Lender ING Bank Romania on Wednesday said its total revenue grew 2% in January-September 2020, to RON1.57 billion, and its net profit dropped 26% on the year, to RON443 million.

Romania's national strategy and forecast commission has revised its 2020 GDP contraction estimate to 4.2% from a previous projection of 3.8% and sees the economy rebounding with 4.5% GDP growth in 2021, from 4.9% previously.

Romania's government is revising its budget deficit target to 9.1% for 2020 at an upcoming budget revision, finance minister Florin Citu said Wednesday.

Electronics retailer Altex opens a new store on November 19 in Deva, Hunedoara county, in a company-owned space, following an investment of EUR5 million.

Romanians bought RON72.5 million (EUR15 million) worth of dermo-cosmetics in pharmacies in the third quarter of 2020, down 0.5% compared with the same period last year but up 24% compared with the second quarter, Cegedim data showed Wednesday.

OMV Petrom (SNP.RO), the largest energy company in Southeastern Europe, has invested approximately EUR21 million at Petrobrazi refinery to raise bio-blending capacity and improve infrastructure for the transport, unloading and storage of bio-components within the refinery.

Dorna Lactate, the company that makes the LaDorna brand and is part of the French Lactalis group, ended 2019 with 223 million lei revenue, down 6% on 2018, and slipped into the red with an almost RON1.5 million loss compared with a RON9.5 million profit in 2018, Finance Ministry data show.

September came with a fast-paced rise in corporate lending, after a visible rebound in the summer months, when it recovered from the decline in the spring months caused by the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fewer than 300,000 people passed through the Henri Coanda (Otopeni) Airport in Bucharest in October, compared with almost 1.3 million in the year-ago month, according to the National Company Bucharest Airports (CNAB) data supplied to ZF.

Romanian state-run oil transporter CONPET Ploiesti (COTE.RO) on Tuesday put into service the newest and largest crude oil storage tank, in Calareti, which hosts a pumping station for imported crude oil, located 50 km off the capital Bucharest.

The Supervisory Board of Romanian state-owned power grid operator Transelectrica (TEL.RO) on Tuesday appointed Catalin Nitu to the position of Chairman of the Directorate for a four-year mandate, effective November 17, 2020.

Romanian cardboard and toilet paper manufacturer Vrancart Adjud (VNC.RO) ended the first nine months of 2020 with a net profit of RON10.1 million, down 34.6% on the year, and a turnover of RON207.9 million, down 7.7% on the year, per ZF calculations based on the company’s quarterly report.

Rolling stock maker Atelierele CFR Grivita (ATRD.RO) reported a net profit of RON27.8 million in the first nine months of 2020, up 160% on the year, and a turnover of RON42.8 million, down 7% on the year, per ZF calculations based on stock market and finance ministry data.

Agroland Business System, a firm developed by entrepreneur Horia Cardos, which owns a chain of supermarkets catering to farmers, on Tuesday said it plans to carry out a private placement for the sale of stocks in the coming period, aiming to attract nearly RON7.9 million from Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) investors.