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Kronospan’s investment in Brasov could generate 3,000 jobs indirectly
The new particle board factory that the Austrian Kronospan group will open in the central Romanian city of Brasov in the coming months could generate some 3,000 jobs from collateral activities, in addition to the 500 employees in the own production unit. “In addition to the 500 jobs, we believe we will generate a further 3,000 indirect jobs, horizontally from transportation, logistics, catering, etc,” the Communication Manager of Kronospan Romania, Oana Bodea, told Business Standard. The Brasov factory will have an annual production capacity of 350,000 cubic meters. The company invested some €200 million in the first Romanian factory producing oriented strand boards (OSB), used in construction. The producer is engaged in a full recruiting campaign to begin production. “We already have 125 employees, and vacancy announcements are available at the Brasov County Employment Agency for a further 125 people, for the first stage, by August,” Bodea said. Kronospan Romania ended 2008 with a nine percent increase in net sales, to €42.3 million, and hopes for at least the same year-on-year result in 2009, considering the economic crisis. Its main competitors on the domestic market are Egger and Holzindustrie Schweighofer.
Small projects in central areas could be the solution
Small projects located in Bucharest’s central area could become an insurance policy for real estate developers during the financial crisis. Easily sustainable investments and clients with profiles other than those of the periferal areas could be a solution to ensure that the activities of developers do not come to a complete standstill. “The Dagesh Group’s strategy is to build small projects in city centers, which will protect us from being stuck with unsold homes in times of crisis, such as the one we are in right now. Residential projects in periferal areas with hundreds of apartments are at great risk and subject to high loan exposure, while centrally-located projects are safer. The concentration towards the center is like an insurance policy,” according to a declaration for Business Standard by Shlomo Abecassis, Manager of the Israeli Dagesh Group. Present on the Romanian market since 2003, the Israeli company has completed four small projects with various partners. It is presently finalizing the Platinum Center office building and the Morilor Residence in the northern Bucharest Timpuri Noi area. These projects required a total investment of some €38 million. “We are in the process of obtaining urban planning approval for a project to include a residential area with 34 homes and a 100-room hotel. We could begin construction on this project this year,” added Abecassis. The project will require a €15-18 million investm
Raiffeisen sees profit soar 75% to 165 million euros
Raiffeisen Bank Romania posted more than 165 million euros in net profit in 2008 (calculated in line with the international accounting standards), an increase of 75.6% on the 2007 level, with the retail division contributing more than 50% to this result. "2008 was an extraordinary year for us. I am extremely pleased with what we achieved, especially since profit does not include any one-off income and is strictly related to the operations of the bank. 2009 will be more difficult, but we are very well positioned to cope," said Steven van Groningen, Raiffeisen Bank chairman, who presented the yearly results of the bank yesterday for the eighth time. Most of the profit is slated to go to capitalising the bank. Bogdan Popa, the bank’s chief financial officer, specified the Treasury contributed about 10% of the profit, retail more than 50%, and the rest came from the corporate division. As for revenue structure, interests and fees totalled 90%, while treasury and investment banking – 10%. The volume of loans granted in 2008 went up by 14% to 2.67 billion euros. Van Groningen, however, added that Raiffeisen had also granted another 2 billion euros in loans, which were outsourced and registered as such abroad. "It’s no secret we started to outsource loans in 2005 and sell loan packages, which affected the trend of the assets." Raiffeisen’s assets amounted to 4.65 billion euros at the end of 2008.
Global Finance boss: Magnitude of Wall Street events has not yet reached Romania
Stelian Dragan, the new chief investment officer of private equity firm Global Finance, says that his strategy does not only target companies in sectors less affected by the crisis and that yields of investment funds will be "quite good" in the coming years, too. "There are opportunities because multiples have gone down, because there is a business plan and money to help this business plan. The market is set to rebound in four to six years, which is why one may say that the yield will be quite good," Dragan said. Greek investment fund Global Finance entered Romania in 1996, one of the key markets in the region. That year the company managed a number of local investments, including ice-cream producer Delta, furniture maker Neoset and dye maker Romcolor. Global Finance’s local businesses over the years have included mobile telephony operator Orange, pharmaceuticals producer Sicomed, supermarket chain La Fourmi and MobilRom. Dragan, 37, has recently taken over the management of Global Finance’s local office, after having worked at investment bank Bear Stearns & Co, and at Deutsche Bank Securities (the investment banking division of Germany-based Deutsche Bank). He replaces Stefan Bucataru, one of the people with the longest involvement in the local private equity industry, who, according to Global Finance, left the company at the end of last year.
Three shopping complex extensions
The extension of Iris Shopping Center in Titan, of the Plaza in Drumul Taberei and Militari Shopping Center, new projects in Oradea – ERA Shopping Park and in Bucharest – Grand Arena in Berceni, are the most important inaugurations of the first few months of the year, despite the fact that all signals point to a half-frozen real estate market. Developers that got financing from banks and managed to attract a significant number of tenants carry on with the projects they started in 2007 and 2008, especially in Bucharest, where retailers say that traffic and sales are less affected than in other cities of the country, which turned out to be overestimated.
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