Orsova shipyard profit down 50%

Orsova Shipyard ended the first nine months of this year with an almost 50% drop in profits. This year’s nine-month profits fell to 0.76 million euros from the 1.55 million euros seen for the same period last year. Although turnover for the same period increased by nearly 25%, from 9.8 million euros to 12.2 million euros, expenses were also higher, largely due to the upward trend in sheet metal prices worldwide. “To be prepared for this surge in sheet metal prices we had to buy large amounts of raw materials,” explained economic manager Gheorghe Caraiman. The shipyard posted financial losses due to the loans the company took out in order to stock up on raw materials. “We’ve been running on loans this year. We’ll have even more loans soon, so that we can buy sheet metal at a relatively acceptable price. The debts will be wiped out with every ship delivered,” Caraiman added. ZF