Insolvent Pro Express Retail, which operates the Diverta bookstore chain, ended last year with a 21 million-euro turnover, 9 million euros less than in the preceding year, according to data of Casa de Insolvenţă Transilvania (CITR insolvency firm), the company's court-appointed administrator.
For this year, the company's officials expect at least a similar turnover to last year's.
"The measures taken last year, the 35% cut to operating costs, the closure of unprofitable stores as well as the market stabilisation will have a positive impact on the progression of the operating profit in 2011. Diverta acted in all sectors to maximise profitability, with the company targeting a positive operating income this year," said Andreea Anghelof, senior partner of Casa de Insolvenţă Transilvania.
Anghelof did not specify what profit the company was targeting for this year or provide details on the profit/losses recorded last year.
Company owner Octavian Radu filed an insolvency claim for Pro Express Retail (which operates the Diverta brand) at the end of May last year, in view of judicial reorganisation.
According to the preliminary list of creditors, the overall debts that creditors are owed amount to 97.3 million lei (23 million euros), with Alpha Bank having to recoup 48.3 million lei (11.5 million euros) and Piraeus Bank being owed nearly 3.9 million lei (0.9 million euros).
The retailer is working with CITR on the reorganisation plan which could be submitted by early May 2011, after which the creditors will vote on it, as explained by the court-appointed administrator's representatives.
Insolvent Pro Express Retail, which operates the Diverta bookstore chain, ended last year with a 21 million-euro turnover, 9 million euros less than in the preceding year, according to data of Casa de Insolvenţă Transilvania (CITR insolv
