The sale of the locomotive, purchased by Hungary’s CER Holding, took Softronic’s 2015 exports to 11.4 million lei (EUR2.6 million), a 11-fold growth on 2014, when exports stood at almost RON1 million.
“The 2015 exports have already been achieved through the sale of the locomotive. We should sell another one abroad in the fourth quarter,” said Radu Zlatian, a Softronic representative.
Softronic is a Romanian entrepreneurial business established in Craiova in 1999. It is the only plant that makes electric locomotives and multiple units in Eastern Europe and is currently selling its products to Hungary and Turkey due the lack of the demand on its home market.
It built its first electric train, Hyperion, last year, with a EUR4.3 million loan from Garanti Bank. Customers include Deutsche Bahn Romania, which uses some of the locomotives in Romania and another on the Hungary-Romania-Bulgaria route.
Softronic expects investments to be about the same as in 2014, RON600,000, compared with RON550,000. It has fewer than 200 employees and budgeted RON115 million revenue, up 4.3% on 2014. Estimated net profit stands at RON3.5 million, up from the RON2.7 million net profit of 2014. (EUR1=RON4.4488)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)