Logistics company GEFCO posts lower turnover in Romania during bad year for clients, sluggish car market

Logistics firm GEFCO ended 2012 with a turnover of EUR 42.3 million in Romania, EUR 1 million below the level in 2011. Its profit stood at EUR 1.96 million, and represented 4.64 percent of its turnover. The drop in turnover was caused by decreases in the global clients segment, including the PSA Peugeot-Citroen group, as well as by other external factors, such as the drop in car sales in Romania, which affected imports and the volumes produced by car suppliers. End 2011, the company had posted a 30 percent year-on-year increase in turnover.

Christophe De Korver (in picture), general manager of GEFCO România said the results are satisfactory, considering the external factors that impacted activity. “We managed to develop considerably locally by continuing collaboration with existing clients and winning 28 new clients. […] It was a mix, with a strong beginning, followed by a slowdown in 2012. Our results were also influenced by the drop in activity for the clients of the group, especially on trade with Western Europe,” De Korver explained. GEFCO operates over 18,000 trucks and transported over 125,000 cars in 2012. In Romania, it employs 100 people. According to the company, it transported over a third of the total number of cars produced or assembled in Romania, or imported to Romania. The group posted a turnover of EUR 3.6 billion in 2012 and employed 11,200 people end 2012. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: the company)