Sursa foto: Dreamstime.com | Uk Romania © Ruletkka
The number of companies with majority British capital operating in Romania reached 2,800 in June this year, over 100 companies being registered or opening offices in our country in the first half alone, according to data obtained by Economedia from the Trade Register . The business of the British companies in Romania that submitted financial statements reached almost 20 billion lei, with British clusters in Bucharest, Cluj and Bihor. The top of the British companies operating in Romania, by business size, is led by the beer producer Ursus Breweries, the cement producer Romcim and the electronic components manufacturer Plexus Services.
The UK left the European Union’s single market earlier this year, which has already caused many problems, such as the collapse of trade with the EU, an unprecedented food crisis, the worst staffing crisis since 1997, and other problems.
More recently, some companies have chosen to leave the UK due to additional bureaucracy and more difficult access to the EU market. And some of them choose Romania.
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In this context, Economedia requested from the Trade Register data regarding the evolution of the number of companies with British majority capital and their businesses in Romania.
Romania and Great Britain
The United Kingdom is Romania’s 13th largest trading partner in terms of total traded goods. In terms of exports, the UK is the 9th country among the destination markets for Romanian exports, and in the top of partner countries for imports it ranks 16th.
In 2020, trade between Romania and the United Kingdom reached 3.46 billion euros, of which exports of 2.07 billion euros – down 19.6% over the same period in 2019 – and imports of 1.40 billion euro – down 15.4%. These weaker figures come mainly in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, and not Brexit, which came into effect this year. However, the trade balance remains in surplus, with a positive balance of 674.9 million euros.
Bilateral trade flows are dominated by highly processed products. The main exported product groups: transport machinery and equipment; manufactured articles (Professional, scientific and control instruments and devices); manufactured goods; oils, fats and waxes of animal and vegetable origin; chemicals and derivatives; beverages and tobacco; raw non-edible materials.
At 31.01.2021 trade data ranked the United Kingdom 12th in the top of foreign investors in Romania with a value of subscribed share capital of 1.05 billion Euros (2.26% of total foreign investments) in 6,136 companies with British ownership.
Constant growth of the number of British companies in Romania
The number of companies with majority partners / shareholders in the United Kingdom in Romania has increased steadily in recent years, according to data obtained by Economedia from the Trade Register (ONRC). Thus, if in January 2018 the number of companies with British majority capital amounted to 2,511, it increased to 2,800 at the end of June 2021, crossing this threshold for the first time, according to data from the The National Trade Register Office (NTRO).
The data also shows that in the first half of this year, more than 100 companies with majority British capital were registered in, or opened offices at the Romanian Trade Register. The number could exceed 200 by the end of this year, if we take into account the pace of registrations in previous years. In 2020, the year of the pandemic, only 145 British companies were registered or opened offices in Romania. Also, 7 companies opened branches in Romania only in the first semester, compared to only 9 last year.
British business worth about 20 billion lei
The companies with majority British capital in Romania reported total business of 18.8 billion lei (over 3.8 billion euros) last year, according to data from the Trade Register Office obtained by Economedia. Most likely the amount is higher, considering that only 1,232 companies out of the 2,800 companies with British majority capital submitted the financial statements for last year.
The cumulative profit of British companies in Romania that reported a positive net result amounted to 1.34 billion lei, while the cumulative losses were 350 million lei. These companies had an average of 46,890 employees last year.
Bucharest attracted more than half of British business, the 544 companies that submitted financial statements (out of 1,446 in total) generating a turnover of over 10 billion lei. The average number of employees of these companies was 13,398 last year. British business in Bucharest were profitable, the for-profit companies reporting an increase of 846 million lei, while the cumulative losses amounted to 206 million lei.
Cluj has the second highest turnover of companies with majority British capital, with 2.44 billion lei reported by 111 of the 182 existing companies. They accumulated 9,267 employees, a profit of 179 million lei and losses of 4.7 million lei.
Bihor is the third “pole” of British business, where 20 companies (out of 48 existing) have accumulated business of 1.17 billion lei, a cumulative profit of 4 million lei, but losses of 33 million lei. They had over 2,900 employees.
Top British companies in Romania
The brewer Ursus Breweries SA is the largest company based on turnover with majority British capital in Romania, reporting last year a turnover of over 2 billion lei and a net profit of 244 million lei, figures achieved with 1,646 employees. Ursus Breweries owns 3 breweries in Romania: in Brasov, Buzau, and Timisoara and a micro-brewery in Cluj-Napoca. Ursus Breweries is part of the Asahi Europe & International group.
The second largest British company is Romcim (formerly CRH Ciment Romania), a cement producer. The company generated a turnover of 1.3 billion euros in Romania last year, with only 717 employees, and reported a profit of 177 million lei. The CRH Group, of which Romcim is a part, is the largest manufacturer of construction materials in the world, with about 77,100 employees in approximately 3,110 operating units in 29 countries. Romcim owns the cement factories in Medgidia and Hoghiz, a grinding station in Târgu Jiu, 2 cement terminals, 18 concrete stations, 9 quarries, 5 gravel pits and an aggregate depot.
Plexus Services Ro (the company is American and the Romanian business is under the control of the British subsidiary), a manufacturer of semiconductors and other electronic components, reported business of over 928 million lei and losses of almost 13 million lei, with 1,849 employees a year last. The company operates a factory in Oradea in Romania.
The top of the British companies in Romania also includes the software company Endava, the car components company Sews and the Non-Bank financial institution Provident.
Translated from Romanian by Service For Life S.R.L.