RTC group profit set to grow

Aurelian Trifa, the financial manager of RTC group, says this year”s reorganisation measures and expenses reduction will take the group”s operating income 25% higher.

“Though the business environment has become more competitive, and some segments have started witnessing business consolidation tendencies, we estimate we will secure profit growth by at least 25% this year through group reorganisation moves and efforts to cut down expenditures,” stated Aurelian Trifa.

The RTC group last year derived operating income worth 8.5 million euros, up 25% year-on-year. “Growth seen in 2005 was primarily due to the expansion of all the market sectors RTC operates on, that is office supplies, retail, IT and logistics and to the contributions of the companies the group acquired last year,” said Aurelian Trifa, financial manager with the group.

He specified that all the units of RTC group boasted higher than expected results. “Each unit has its own specific business, therefore comparing them is not relevant. Profit rates for each individual unit are within the limits of the industries these units operate in,” says Trifa.

RTC in 2005 derived turnover worth 237 million euros and for 2006 the company”s officials forecast overshooting the 300 million-euro mark. In 2004 the group”s turnover topped 100 million euros.

“We are banking on a positive progression of the office supply segment, where we have more than 20% share of the market, of the retail (segment), on a continuously growing market. We also expect, in the next 2-3 years to see considerable advances in the distribution and logistics market,” says Trifa.

Last year was a very dynamic year for RTC, both on foreign and Romanian markets, as the company merged with the Best group, and acquired Sistec, a Cluj-Napoca-based computer producer.

RTC also took over the majority stake in Simtech Datacom, a distributor of pre-paid phone cards, mobile phones, GSM accessories, and in Flaro Sibiu office supplies producer.

Profit margins of each unit are influenced by the development stage of each market. “On a mature market, we do not expect business profitability to be very high as compared with the profitability rate on a market just starting to develop,” explains Trifa.

The group includes more than 65 companies, grouped in 13 units. Regarding the Diverta network, RTC early this year announced investments worth 3 million euros in order to open new stores and develop the “Best in Diverta” concept.

RTC Holdings has recently launched its IT distribution division, Proca, officially. It comprises four companies: ProCa Romania, Sistec Distributie, OctaNew Tech and Atlas Computer. RTC officials estimate it will post 70 million euros turnover. ioana.david@zf.ro