Personnel expenditures send Vega into the red

Rompetrol SA (ex-Vega), the management division of the Rompetrol group, posted losses worth 2.53 million euros (almost 9 million RON), compared with a net profit worth 4.06 million euros (14.8 million RON) in the similar period of last year. Financial data from the company also includes the results of the Ploiesti-based Vega Refinery, with which the company merged in 2001. “The negative results seen in between the January 1 – June 30, 2006 period can be explained by the increase in operating expenditures by 14 million RON (some 4 million euros) against the corresponding period of 2005, given the slight drop in operating revenues. The main types of expenditure that have increased in the aforementioned period are personnel-related expenditure, as well as third-party services,” say company officials in the half-year report. The company’s turnover increased 8%, to 44.4 million euros (157.1 million RON). The Vega refinery had a 76% contribution to the turnover in the first six months of the year, compared with 82% in the similar period of last year, given that the refinery’s sales dropped by 16%.