Leonardo closes all foreign subsidiaries

Leonardo, the largest local footwear and leather goods retailer, which went insolvent in the second half of last year after accumulating 100 million euros in debt, has closed all subsidiaries on neighbouring markets, which in the 2007-2008 period brought the company around 50% of its 135 million-euro revenues.
“This year we estimate a 78 million-euro turnover, down from previous years, because our export operations have been shut down, with subsidiaries in Hungary, the Republic of Moldova and Bulgaria to which we were exporting being in turn closed because they lost the parent company money,” says Bogdan Gorde, a partner within Casa de Insolvență Transilvania insolvency firm, in charge of Leonardo’s judicial reorganisation.
Last year the company posted 224.9 million RON (52 million euros) in losses and a 410 million-RON (95 million-euro) turnover, according to data from the Finance Ministry. After the Oradea-based company held by businessman Florin Panea became insolvent, the company went through a tough restructuring process, which entailed the closure of 50 stores and operating several hundred redundancies. Leonardo stepped into the black as of September, Gorde adds.