Profit of companies listed on the stock exchange leveled off in the first 9 months

Of the 59 companies listed on the stock exchange, 10 registered losses compared to the 2006 same period, while only nine companies registered losses by the end of the first nine months of 2006. The Rompetrol Rafinare oil company, member of the Rompetrol group, registered the biggest loss in this year's first nine months, of RON 62.8 mln (some €20 mln). The Amonil fertilizer producer ranks second, with a RON 9.58 mln loss (some €3 mln).

"I believe the situation will change by year-end, as many companies have seasonal activities, and there could be some changes in the fourth quarter," said Razvan Pasol, President of the Intercapital Invest brokerage firm. The first four companies on the stock exchange in terms of capitalization also posted the highest profits. Romania's largest oil company, Petrom, registered €470 mln in profit, down 22 percent year-on-year. Both BRD, Romania's second-largest lender, and Alro, the largest primary Eastern and Central European aluminum producer, registered a 42 percent increase in profit.

The top ten companies listed on the stock exchange, part of BVB's BET index, posted RON 2.44 bln (€730 mln) in net profit, down 10.6 percent. These same companies generated 70.3 percent of the total profit registered by the 59 companies.