Electrocontact Botosani's 60% lower gains

Electrocontact Botosani, a manufacturer of electrical devices and electro-technical products, reported profits that are down by more than 60%, in real terms, at the end of the first half of this year. The volume of deals concluded shrank by 5% in euros. In the first six months of this year, Electrocontact posted profit worth 77,000 euros (7.2 billion ROL), as compared to the 200,000 euros in the same period of last year. Second quarter results accounted for two thirds of this figure. In the first half of 2004, the company registered turnover amounting to 1.7 million euros. The company’s operating result dropped by half in the first six months as compared to the same period last year, whilst revenues derived through this sector of activity dropped from 2 million euros to 1.7 million euros. Of these, more than two thirds resulted from product sales. As compared to the end of the previous year, the company’s management report points to decreasing stocks of materials and products, but also to a higher value of stocks of finished products. This is partially due to the increase in sale prices, following the ascending trend which is increasingly characterising the price of raw materials and utilities. ZF