Romania Feed

Romania's finance ministry on Wednesday taps external markets for the first time this year, selling euro-denominated bonds with 12 and 20-year maturities.

Demand for housing will remain strong in Bucharest, especially for the segments positioned at the extremes of the market spectrum (low-end and high-end), an analysis by real estate consultancy company JLL showed Wednesday.

The number of real estate deals in Romania stood at 62,891 in March, 12,744 more than in February, data from the national cadaster agency ANCPI showed Wednesday.

The Bucharest Stock Exchange and the Employers’ Association of the Software and Services Industry (ANIS) signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday to promote financing opportunities on the capital markets to the local IT industry.

Dedeman, the largest Romanian entrepreneurial business and biggest local DIY chain, opens its 55th store in the country Friday, April 9, in Sfantu Gheorghe, in the proximity of the recently opened Sepsi Value Center developed by Prime Kapital.

The ongoing health crisis is reshaping companies' approach to streamlining costs giving rise to a subletting trend on the local office market, an analysis by real estate consultancy company JLL showed Wednesday.

Romania’s third largest winemaker Cotnari posted almost RON143 million revenue in 2020, about the same as in 2019 but the net profit shrank 20% to RON3.5 million, financial analysis platform Confidas data show.

Romania is performing better than most European peers in managing the pandemic, hence it avoided the lockdown for the first quarter of 2021. The National Institute for Statistics announced that the economy contracted in 2020 by only -3.9%, a much better result than World Bank or IMF predictions. In 2019, Romania was classified as a high-income country and the local exchange entered emerging market status. However, the renowned European Recovery Fund is still on paper, Romania has been traditionally weak in absorbing EU funds and the global market trust in Romania is significantly impaired. The dynamic of the local economy is there, but will it materialize?

Telecom group Digi Communications (DIGI.RO) proposes a gross dividend per share of RON0.75 from its 2020 profit, subject to shareholder approval on May 18.

The impact of the pandemic on the food service business is really hard to gauge at the moment, says Calin Ionescu, chief executive officer of Sphera Franchise Group, one of the leading actors on the restaurant market.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday revised upwards its forecast on Romania’s economic growth to 6% in 2021, from a previous projection of 4.6% in its October 2020 report.

Vivendi International Group has sold City Insurance Romania, the largest insurance company on the local market, to I3CP, a global investor based in the Netherlands, the insurer said in an announcement Tuesday.

Almost three quarters (73%) of the business leaders who responded to a survey said their business had been affected by the health crisis, but that the effect had not been quite as severe as they anticipated in March 2020. At that time, 99% of companies expected a negative impact, according to PwC’s Global Crisis Survey 2021.

French construction material manufacturer Saint-Gobain said Tuesday it will invest EUR45 million in a second plasterboard production line at its factory in Turda, northern Romania.

Groupama Asigurari on Tuesday said it registered a 30% increase on the life insurance (on individual and group level) segment on the year in 2020, with the total value of gross premiums underwritten on this segment reaching RON46 million.

The Mendeleev Office 5 office building, developed by Akcent Development in the center of Bucharest and managed by the Asset Services team of Cushman & Wakefield Echinox, has attracted two new tenants, reaching an occupancy rate of 70%.

Romanian technology company 2Performant Network (2P.RO), the leader of the Romanian affiliate marketing market, said Tuesday it has reorganized its activity organized into two business units starting April – Romania and Bulgaria Business Unit and Growth Unit.

Romania’s beer market remained stable in 2020, with a slight growth of 0.5% in volume compared with 2019, to 16.75 million hectoliters, the Romanian Brewers Association said Tuesday.

Furniture manufacturer Sortilemn Gherla, one of the most important Romanian suppliers of the IKEA group, expects growth of 10% in revenue year-on-year in 2021, following expansion and development of production.