Ductil Buzau: less profit, higher dividends

The leading Romanian producer of welding and metal cutting solutions Ductil Buzau, saw a net profit worth 13.3 million RON (3.68 million euros) in 2005, some 12% less in euros against the net profit in 2004. The company”s turnover, however, increased by some 15%, reaching 117.5 million RON (32.4 million euros). The profit drop is mainly due to the appreciation of the RON against the euro, given that sale prices operated by the company both on the foreign and on the domestic market are set in euros, whereas expenditures for the employees” wages and for utilities are paid in RON. Company officials could not be contacted before this issue was ready for print to offer further comment on the results. Ductil will distribute some 58% of its net profit for 2005 in the form of dividends, with the rest of the profit to remain available to the company as undistributed profit. ZF