SIF sales boost Cocor profits

Cocor Bucharest, the owner of the shopping centre in Bucharest of the same name, made 940,000 euros (34.8bn ROL) in net profits in the first quarter of the year, nearly three times higher than in the same period of 2004 when profits reached 325,000 euros (13.4bn ROL). The strong growth in profits is largely due to the company''s higher financial income, which amounted to 720,000 euros (26.7bn ROL), up from the 118,000 euros (4.8bn ROL) seen in 2004. "The profits came from the sale of shares in SIFs that we bought two or three years ago," said Constantin Smocot, Cocor Bucharest''s general manager. Results from the centre''s operations were in fact similar to the previous year. The company generated 27.5bn ROL (740,000 euros) in first-quarter turnover, while operating income rose slightly to 14.4bn ROL (390,000 euros) from 13.1bn ROL (323,000 euros) in 2004. "Th e growth of the ROL against the euro has affected our results quite seriously, given that all our rental contracts are calculated in euros. In these circumstances, we are trying to achieve the same level as last year," Smocot said. ZF