Rombat Q1 profit increases 48% YOY

A.D.

Car battery maker "Rombat""s profit for Q1 2009 passed the EUR 2 million mark. Thus, the company"s profit logged a 48% increase over the company"s Q1 2008 profit, which amounted to EUR 1.4 million. Even though the global automotive industry is going through a crisis, the company succeeded in increasing the number of car batteries sold by over last year"s first quarter by 33%.

Last year, Rombat"s profit was 5.6 million Euros for a turnover of around EUR 54 million, or a 11% increase over 2007.

The Bistri a based company estimates its sales will increase over 12% compared to 2008. Rombat targets a increase of its exports up to around 60% of its total turnover. The company presently exports in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and the Republic of Moldova, and is accredited as part Renault"s panel of regional suppliers for Dacia and its factories in Russia and Iran, and for Peugeot PSA"s Slovakia factory.

Ioan Repede, general manager of Rombat, said: "Even though the automotive market is going through a crisis, we"re not going to lower our output for now, nor do we see any imminent layoffs. We are trying to compensate for the drop in the OEM segment by increasing exports, as our products are extremely competitive ".

The company"s domestic market share is around 45%-50% of the Romanian market, with an estimated turnover of around 1 million batteries in 2008.

This year, Rombat will invest EUR 4 million in a microhydroelectric plant project. This year, the company also plans to increase its output capacity as well as its waste recycling capacities at its factory in Copşa Mică.

"We want to continue to open new Rombat centers all across the country. We have opened 5 such centers in Craiova, Râmnicu Vâlcea, Deva, Iaşi and Braşov (with an investment of over 2 million Euros). This year we are going to open other centers in Brăila and Bucharest. Each center will feature a modern show-room, a warehouse with a storage capacity of up to 8000 batteries and a car service center", Elena Sava, Rombat"s marketing director said.