Vel Pitar Ramnicu-Valcea, one of the leading players in the milling and bakery industry posted net profits of 206,000 euros (755,000 RON) in the first half of this year, compared with 940,000 euros (3.8 million RON) in the same time of 2004.

This profit was due to the financial activity of the company, as its operations resulted in a 31,600 euro loss (116,000 RON). This was, however, offset by a 270,000 (nearly 1 million RON) financial income.

As for the company''s turnover, it went down slightly in RON, but went up in euros, due to the appreciation of the RON against the European currency.

Therefore Vel Pitar sold 28.9 million euro (105.8 million RON) worth of products in the half-year, 7% more in euros than last year when sales for this period stood at 27 million euros (109.3 million RON).

"The 2005 so far has been a time of negative changes on the markets where the company operates, especially on the milling market and significantly affected the financial results obtained," the report the company filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange shows. The company officials could not be reached for further comment on the results. Vel Pitar in the first half of the year continued to retool its production facilities and boosted the usage of its milling and bakery capacities. The company completed a 1.5 million euro investment in a new line last year that is mainly used for sliced bread packaged at its facility in Berceni.

Vel Pitar estimates turnover of about 69 million euros (239 million RON) for 2005, as well as 3.4 million euro (12.5 million RON) gross profit.

Vel Pitar concluded last year with 74 million euro turnover, an increase of 15% on 2003 and net profit of 2 million euros, twice higher than in the year before.

The company is one of the most active players on the mergers and acqu