“2018 has been a good year for us, despite the many challenges. We achieved growth of 20% in revenue in the first half,” Oana Barbu, general manager of Asbis Romania, the local subsidiary of the Cyprus-based distributor by the same name, told ZF.
“The challenges came from the restructuring of the team and company goals. We focused on those areas we saw potential in. The component business is one that grew. We did our job better and thus gained market share on a segment that did not necessarily grow. We also took advantage of the opportunities in the block chain and cryptocurrency mining area, by providing not only equipment but also developing a package of integrated solutions and it turned into an added value area.”
The company ended last year with 204 million lei (EUR45 million) revenue, 2% lower than in 2016, despite the growth in the second half.
“The growth also came from the SME and large company infrastructure business. The server business went up by more than 50% and the networking business by more than 300%. (…)”
Oana Barbu, who started in the IT sector at Flamingo and then worked for market leader Network One Distribution, took the reins of Asbis Romania at the end of June 2017.
Top 60 IT&C distributors in Romania posted RON4.6 billion (EUR1.02 billion) revenue last year, up 6% over 2016, according to Finance Ministry data. Their net profit stood at only RON109 million, 35% higher than in 2016, according to the `Cei mai mari jucatori din IT si telecom” (Key players in IT and telecom) ZF yearbook that came out at the end of last month.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)