Oil company Rompetrol Rafinare (RRC) reported consolidated H1 losses worth more than 260m RON (61.9m euros), with refining activities (carried out by the Petromidia - Constanta and Vega - Ploiesti refineries) as the hardest hit segment in the group.

2005 was the last year the company generated profit and ever since Rompetrol losses have skyrocketed to over 825m RON (235m euros at an average annual exchange rate of 3.5 RON/euro). During this period, shareholders have never tackled a possible capital raise.

As the company’s sales have almost halved since the beginning of the year, to $1.1bn (0.82bn euros), and oil prices are following an upward trend, which would lead to shrinking operating income margins, Rompetrol’s losses could deepen by yearend.

"Rompetrol is a company that surprises through its losses, but which at the same time can afford to retain a significant presence in all fields. Fundamentally, looking at figures, the company seems to be on the brink of bankruptcy, and it does not look likely to see an ascending trend on the stock market. On the other hand, the economic and geopolitical stakes are extremely high, which compensates. Also, the company’s marketing is very good, retaining the investors’ interest in this company," explained Mihai Chisu, a broker with IFB Finwest.

Since the start of the year, Rompetrol Rafinare shares have soared by over 170%, the best performance among all stocks present on the Romanian capital market.

During this entire period, the company’s capitalisation has grown by approximately 160m euros.

Rompetrol Rafinare’s net turnover dropped by 46% in the first six months, to 1.1bn dollars, after the company reported turnover of above $2.06bn in H1, 2008. In the same interval, the company’s losses rose by 41%, from $48.9m to $69.1m. In Q2, the company reported gross turnover of $773.4m, down 44% fro