Grup Servicii Petroliere (Oil Services Group - GSP) registered 72% higher turnover in the first half of the year, up to 40.4m euros, compared with the similar period of last year, after having acquired, in late 2005, six marine platforms from Petrom.
Grup Servicii Petroliere, a business controlled by Gabriel Comanescu, bought the Petrom platforms with a loan worth $115m (92m euros) contracted from BCR (Romanian Commercial Bank).
Gabriel Comanescu, 39, is one of the strongest players on the Romanian market of oil equipment, also acting as chairman of the board of Ploiesti-based Upetrom 1 Mai firm.
Grup Servicii Petroliere reported H1 net income worth 1.17m euros (4.2m RON), up 11% compared with the corresponding period of last year.
"The business we are operating is tightly connected to the evolution of international quotations of oil products. Rising quotations pushed our business higher," stated Gabriel Comanescu, general manager of Upetrom Grup Management, the company owning 90% in Grup Servicii Petroliere.
"At the same time, the value of our contracts has also grown," Comanescu specified, without providing any further details.
"For this year, we expect turnover to go beyond $100m (about 80m euros)," specified Comanescu. Gabriel Comanescu owns 85.95% in Upetrom Group Management stock.
Grup Servicii Petroliere, set up in 2004, currently operates six marine drilling platforms, three in the Persian Gulf and three in the Black Sea, namely Atlas, Fortuna, Prometeu, Saturn, Orizont and Jupiter.
After its takeover by Austria's OMV oil group, Petrom started spinning off some assets and services to third parts, focusing the expansion strategy on its core business, namely oil and gas - from production and refining to trade and distribution. Consequently, Petrom decided to sell its marine platforms to Grup Servicii Petroliere.
Comanescu maintains that the reimbursement of the loan contracted from BCR, one of biggest loans on the market, is on schedule.
At the same time, the Upetrom Group Management official denied the information according to which Petromservice is supposedly interested in acquiring the six marine drilling platforms.
At this moment, Petromservice, a company split from Petrom, and Grup Servicii Petroliere are the biggest players on the market of oil services and equipment in terms of turnover. GSP last year reported turnover worth 64.8m euros, more than double the figure posted in 2004. The company's net income reached 4.1 million euros, up 5 percent from 2004. For this year, the company has earmarked investments that may reach 60m euros. Grup Servicii Petroliere has approximately 600 employees.
Grup Servicii Petroliere
Saw turnover rise by 72% to 40.4m euros in the first half of 2006 compared with the same period of last year
In late 2005, acquired six marine platforms from Petrom with a $115m (92m euros) loan contracted from BCR
Reported net income worth 1.17m euros in the first six months of this year, up 11% from the similar period of last year
Expects to derive turnover worth above $100m (about 80m euros) this year
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