The retailer slipped into the red in 2014, posting RON32 million loss, compared with the RON37 million profit in 2013, according to its Finance Ministry reports.
Ambient has only posted profit in 2012 and 2013 in the past six years, more than RON40 million. Its worst year was 2009, when losses stood at more than RON80 million.
The number of employees went down by 180 to 1,276 in 2014.
Ambient was established by entrepreneur Ioan Ciolan in the early nineties, who opened the first seven stores that sold finishing materials, kitchen and bath fixtures, and home improvement products in Sibiu in 1995.
The company has undergone a complex restructuring process in the last few years, which entailed signing sale and lease back contracts for some of its stores to reduce debt.
The 2014 results widened the gap between Ambient and the two leading Romanian-owned DIY retail and construction materials distribution businesses Dedeman Bacau and Arabesque Galati, which posted RON3.4 billion and RON1.5 billion revenue in 2014. (EUR1=RON4.4375)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)