Tehnoton - Iasi Posts 1.11 Mio RON Net Profit

Despite general economic adversities, home appliances manufacturer Tehnoton - Iasi (RASDAQ:THNI), concluded the first half of the year with notable growth in turnover, overall revenues and profit. Tehnoton"s turnover increased from 10,403,297 RON in the first half of 2008 by 484,527 RON to 10,887,824 RON in the first half of 2009. The breakdown of the turnover achieved in the first half of this year differs from the breakdown of the turnover reported for the first half of 2008 in that the weight of home appliances decreased below 50%, whereas the weight of higher value-added products for industrial and professional use increased.

Overall revenues increased by 10% in the reporting period from the first six months of 2008 to 11,616,647 RON, whereas expenses gained 2.3% to 10,260,782 RON, as a consequence of the management"s focus on increasing revenues while decreasing costs. Under these circumstances, Tehnoton - Iasi reported a gross profit of 1,355,865 RON for the first half of 2009, by 818,348 RON more than in the corresponding period of 2008. After taxation, the net profit was calculated at 1,110,388 RON.

As for debts, six months through the year, Tehnoton reported overdue debtdebt s of 11,411,325 RON, up by 1,528,883 RON from the corresponding period of 2008. The increase in the total of short-term due in up to one year was the primary reason for the increase in the overall value of the company"s debts. This was a direct consequence of the hardships that the company had to face, especially in the second quarter of 2009, when collecting invoices for products and services delivered to customers became difficult.

Tehnoton SA - Iasi was established by Government Decision no. 160/1991 regulating the split of the former State-held company Tehnoton. The new company, Tehnoton SA, took over 89.5% of the assets of the former company. The privatization of Tehnoton was concluded in December 2000. According to the latest information available, Omega is Communications SRL - Iasi is the majority shareholder with 72.59%, whereas the rest of the shares are held by various individuals and companies.

Tehnoton"s main business is the production of non-electrical home appliances (such as gas-powered cooking stoves), semi-automatic washing machines and various products for industrial and professional use, especially for railway companies, electricity distribution companies and communications companies. The management of Tehnoton has confirmed that the breakdown of the company"s production has changed since last year, as the weight of home appliances within the overall output is now lower, while the weight of industrial and professional products has increased.

The market for home appliances has decreased countrywide following the saturation of the targeted types of consumers. In Tehnoton"s case, this setback has been compensated by an increase in sales of industrial products as a result of several new contracts with railway companies, electricity companies, gas companies, communications companies and several industrial companies.