Electromagnetica profits down

Electrical and electronic equipment manufacturer Electromagnetica Bucharest posted net profit of 0.1 million euros in 2004, over nine times lower than in 2003. The company’s sales went slightly up by 5.5% to 14 million euros. The decline in profits was due to the restructuring programme the company is undergoing. “2003 was a happy year for Electromagnetica. Last year, however, was very difficult, because the company underwent a complete restructuring. Up until ’89, Electromagnetica used to be the largest supplier of telecommunications equipment in Romania. After ’89, the market sank and almost hit bottom, given that no major investments have been made in fixed telephony and all the attention was directed to the mobile telephony. Therefore sales of spare parts for RomTelecom accounted for only 1.5% of our turnover last year. Considering the new market conditions, the company had to develop new products, which required making some significant investments,” Ilie Frasineanu, Electromagnetica’s chief financial officer commented. ZF