“The growth was mainly because of the average price, up 10.7% and the sales volume. There were more book fairs and they emerged as a response to the closing of the many small and medium-sized bookstores throughout the country. This increased collection rate and cash turnover. However, we can still say there is a balance between online and traditional bookstore sales,” said Silviu Lupescu, the general manager of the Polirom, which was established in 1995.
Polirom published 160 titles in the first half of this year. It ended 2016 with 23 million lei (EUR5 million) sales and RON1.7 million net profit, up from the RON21 million sales and RON1.4 million net profit the year before, according to Finance Ministry data. It had 72 employees last year. Its main shareholders are Adrian Butuca (54.04%), Silviu Alexandru Lupescu (17%) and Irina Oana Dolhascu (13.2%), according to the latest data available. (EUR1=RON4.5990)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)