Severnav cuts losses and hopes for profit

The Severnav Drobeta Turnu Severin shipyard has posted 45.57 million RON (12.6 million euros) in turnover for the first nine months of the year, down 41.35% on the same time last year. It reduced its losses for the first nine months to 265,000 RON (73,200 euros), from the 5.4 million RON (1.32 million euro) in the same period in 2004. “Turnover very much depends on the contractual details: if the ship is complete and the equipment is included in the price, turnover will be higher; but If the equipment is brought in by the beneficiary, then turnover will drop, as is the case for this year. Another factor with a significant influence on turnover is the long shipbuilding cycle, which means we will have a high level of unfinished production this year and turnover will increase significantly in 2006. For example, we started work on a 19-million-euro ship this year, which will influence next year”s results. It will be about 80% complete by the end of this year,” explained Stelian Stancioiu, Severnav”s chief executive. ZF