La Fantana, the biggest watercooler bottler, saw its turnover stagnate in the first half of this year, though almost 20% of its customers have stopped buying this product since the beginning of the year.

The company controlled by Innova Capital investment fund generated turnover of around 9m euros in the first six months, similar with the level reached in the first six months of 2008, with volume sales stagnating during this period.

"In the first half we lost 20% of the customers we had at the start of the year and won 10% new clients, half of which are individuals," stated Cristian Amza, a CEO with La Fantana Group.

To counter the falling number of clients, the company counts on improving relationships with its current customers.

"We've been focusing on specific retention activities, phone calls and visits by sales agents at active clients," said Amza.

This year, the company cut its number of employees by 10%. In late 2008, the La Fantana producer had 524 employees.

The watercooler-bottled water market is declining this year amid the shrinking number of companies active domestically and the decreasing budgets of existing firms.

Companies and public institutions account for over 90-95% in a watercooler bottler's total number of clients. The biggest players on the market are now La Fantana and Cumpana. La Fantana holds a market share the company's representatives put at around 70% in 2008. La Fantana in the first half reached 2.85m-euro EBITDA, up 25% from a year ago, according to the data provided by Amza. Last year, the firm reported turnover worth almost 20m euros and a 1.7m-euro loss.

Because of the stagnating sales outlook, the firm is set to cut its marketing, procurement, operating and headcount costs mainly this year, according to Amza's previous statements.

The producer's development plans last year entailed t