Romania’s road freight market up 13 pct to over RON 34 bln in 2015

Firms in the road freight transport sector reported a combined turnover of RON 34.28 billion in 2015, up 13 percent to the previous year, according to a study by Coface, based on the financial statements submitted by 31,363 firms.

Coface further shows that 38 percent of the firms in the industry reported a fall in revenues in 2015. Moreover, 39 percent of the total assets of the transport companies account for investments in retechnologization.

“Companies in the analyzed sector have maintained a high rate of supplier financing, with the average payment period standing at 112 days, while the debts are collected in 88 days,” according to the study.

Furthermore, 1,249 freight companies had a turnover above EUR 1 million in 2015, with this business segment representing 4 percent of total firms, also generating almost 64 percent of the total revenue in the industry.

“We are still seeing constant imbalances through the usage of resources on the short term for investments the acquisition of assets, which exposes these companies to liquidity shocks,” said Eugen Anicescu, country manager of Coface Romania.

Coface representatives added that only 2 out of 10 companies in the road freight transport industry had a low risk of filing for insolvency in 2016, based on an analysis that takes into account 64 percent of the firms in this field.