Aerostar Bacau (ARS.RO), IAR Ghimbav (IARV.RO) and Turbomecanica Bucuresti (TBM.RO) rose by 75% together on the stock market this year, after having surprised the market at the beginning of the year with higher sales and profits than in 2014, which in turn had been more profitable than 2013.
“The geopolitical context that is favorable to boosting defense spending and the growing likelihood of Romania being included on the map of NATO defense contractors are likely to keep the business of the industry going on long-term,” says Laurentiu Rosoiu, deputy general manager of asset manager Star Asset Manager.
Investors are now waiting for news that will give aircraft manufacturers’ shares a further boost, such as the doubling of the defense budget up to the NATO target of 2% of GDP or new export orders and potential partnerships with foreign airplane and helicopter manufacturers.
“The very good results overlapped with the linear price trend of the three companies’ stock price for a number of years. Rising figures drew the attention of the market and first-half results confirmed the upward trend and fueled this interest again,” Laurentiu Rosoiu says.
Star Asset Management manages an investment fund whose investments include the three aeronautics industry companies. Their share of the total assets managed stood at 2.2% at the end of June.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)