Thus, shares of OMV, the Austrian group owning the largest Romanian oil and gas company Petrom (SNP.RO), rose by almost 30%, while Vodafone shares added more than 50%.
Stocks of French-held Carrefour, operating an over 160-store network in Romania, advanced 49%. Renault, owner of Automobile Dacia, the largest Romanian carmaker, saw its shares soar by 43%.
In macroeconomic terms, there were signs of a pickup and analysts note 2013 was a good year for companies operating in cyclical industries. The bourse fizz can signal all these firms are ready for new investments, inclusively in Romania.
“All European companies will set investment plans, and to a lesser extent bonuses, as their priority in 2014, with part of plans likely to target Romania as well, but not necessarily,” says Andrei Radulescu, senior investment analyst at SSIF Broker.
“Strictly referring to Petrom, I believe the company will take further its ambitious investment budget of recent years (investing around EUR1 billion/year on average). Also, given the success of models put up at Mioveni, Renault is also likely to continue its investment in Romania,” added Radulescu.
In this context, Romania seems ready for a new economic growth cycle, the analyst points out.
“The outlook for domestic demand picking up, propped both by the declining funding costs and the possibility of public investments being re-launched in the electoral 2014, is likely to drive major companies to resume the sustainable investment cycle,” believes Radulescu.
The bourse rebound should also get reflected in the recruitment policy of these companies, which hold together over 43,000 employees.
“Such an increase should translate into a rise of workforce. Employees should also feel safer as no further restructuring would be needed. But this also depends on real growth of profits and development of each country,” says Daniela Necefor, managing partner of Total Business Solutions (TBS) executive search firm.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)