Foreign retailers in the black

The business of foreign retail networks has grown tenfold over the last five years and now exceeds two billion euros according to data available on the Finance Ministry website. At the same time, cumulated profits came close to 50 million euros at the end of 2004. New types of trade – supermarkets, hypermarkets, cash & carry and any other type of store introduced to Romania after 1989 – have become a normal industry. Following the investment of more than half a billion euros in stores, sales made through new forms of trade exceeded two billion euros last year. The best results were posted by those companies that have been on the market longest, such as Metro, Billa and Selgros. They had the courage to invest early in Romania and benefited as a result by making hefty profits last year. Finance Ministry data show that Metro Cash & Carry Romania SRL posted more than 27 million euros in net profits, while Billa and Selgros, both members of the German Rewe Group, made a combined 15 million euros in 2004. The first to enter Romania, Metro, posted sales of one billion euros – almost as much as all the other “foreigners” made on this market last year. ZF