Argus Constanta forecasts 4 times higher profit

Argus, the Constanta-based vegetable oil producer, estimates gross profit worth 20.8 million RON (5.7 million euros) this year, almost four times higher than last year, according to the company's financial report. The company targets total revenues worth 222.1 million RON (61.3 million euros) this year, up 58.2% against 2007, while expenditures are expected to go up by around 49% and reach 201.3 million RON. In 2007, the company registered a profit after two consecutive years of losses, amid a 23.7% increase in revenues, to 140.3 million RON, as well as a slower increase in expenditures, from 8.8% to 135.1 million RON. The company's turnover also saw an increase, by 16%, to 126.2 million RON, although last year's drought reduced the amount of crops available. "Ev en though there was an acute shortage of raw material and we acquired it at much higher prices than in the last few years, after two years in which the market did not allow costs to be covered, 2007 enabled us to recoup some of the losses incurred during the two consecutive years," the company explained.