Telecom equipment maker Intrarom Bucharest logged approximately $55 million turnover in 2002, compared with $118.7 million in 2001, general manager Mihai Gherman said.
"The 2000 and 2001 results, which are better than last year's can be explained by the investment programmes run by RomTelecom and Cosmorom. A decline in the business of these telecom operators has impacted on Intrarom's revenues. Still, I am convinced things will take a turn for the better in RomTelecom's case, as it can become the largest operator in the Balkans in ten years," Gherman added.
The Intrarom official provided one more reason for the turnover decline: the world recession on the telecom market, which impacted on Intrarom's export revenues.
"Structurally speaking, exports accounted for 50% of Intrarom's revenues last year, that is about $27 million, with the rest derived from sales of telecom equipment and services on the domestic market," Gherman said. The year 2002 was a time of consolidation on the IT market for Intrarom, which was awarded several contracts in this field following tenders.
"Intrarom won a series of tenders organised by the Communications and Information Technology Ministry or by the National Statistics Institute. They are not high-value projects, yet they are very important to us. Our shift in focus towards the IT market that started in 2002 will continue over the next two years. We are planning to become an IT solutions integrator," Gherman said. Intrarom operates in the IT industry through its own software development department, established in 1998.
The company exports software applications worth approximately $1 million to Greece's Intracom every year. The software development department currently employs 30 people.
The deregulation of the telecom market in effect since January 1, 2003 will bring along a series of business opportunities for Intrarom.
The company official also specified he could not tell for sure when the floatation plans first made in 2000 would materialise, as this was solely up to Intracom Group's strategy.
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