Oil company sees plunging profits

Petrolexportimport (foreign trade company dealing with petroleum products) posted nine-month profit worth 18.9 billion ROL (almost $0.6m), down about 75% as compared to the year-ago period. However, turnover almost doubled in real terms, from 165 billion ROL ($5.8m) in the first three quarters of 2001 to 369.2bn ROL ($11.3m) this year. The company’s managers had forecast 2002 gross profit to reach 8.25 billion ROL, while turnover was projected at 196.7 billion ROL. The company heeded the domestic market this year, halting part of its export operations. ZF