Germanos makes 109m euros from phones and accessories

Germanos, the biggest telecom retailer on the Romanian market, controlled by mobile communications operator Cosmote, posted 109 million euros in turnover last year, down 16% against 2008, according to the latest Trade Registry data. The company cut its losses from 4 million euros in 2008 to 2.4 million euros last year. Germanos representatives did not comment on the 2009 financial data.

The mobile phones market fell by 30% last year, to 253 million euros, according to Gfk Romania market research company amid the recession and the rationing of phone purchases by individuals and companies. As a result, all big GSM retailers posted lower turnover. Avenir Telecom, no. 2 on the market, posted a 31% lower turnover, 44 million euros, and Arsis Trading, no. 3, made 24.7 million euros in turnover, down 12%.

Germanos, which has an around 250-store chain across Romania, also sells services of companies in the group (Romtelecom, Cosmote, Zapp), as well as products such as navigation systems (GPS) and photo cameras. Last year Germanos’ sales of navigation systems and of mobile accessories rose slightly, according to previous statements from Alexandru Munteanu, the retailer’s sales manager.