Fan Courier expects up to 10% growth

Three Romanian entrepreneurs, Felix Patrascanu, Adrian, and Neculai Mihai, owners of Fan Courier, one of the leading courier companies on the Romanian market, say they met their 2009 targets and managed to end the year with an increase in sales.

"In RON, the company's turnover rose by 9-10% in 2009 against the previous year, but the same is not true in euros. The profit margin was below that of the previous year, of 17%," said Adrian Mihai, one of the three shareholders of the company.

Considering the growth rate announced by the shareholders, Fan Courier ended last year with around 170 million RON (39 million euros) in sales.

Fan Courier holds an estimated 20% share of a market put at 200 million euros dominated by giants such as UPS, the French Post Office and the German one, which entered the market in 2008.

In fact, 2008 saw one transaction after another, from the entry of the French Post Office, which bought Pegasus, currently reorganised under the DPD brand, to the takeover of Trans Courier Service by American-held UPS, and to the acquisition of Cargus by DHL.

There have also been failures on the market, with the most resounding one being Curiero's insolvency.

Whilst giants present on the market focus on international shipments, Fan Courier derives over 90% of its revenues from shipments on the Romanian market. Felix Patrascanu, Fan Courier shareholder, says that competition is good, that it is not to blame for a company's failure, flawed management is.

The company recorded 12 million shipments last year, more than in the previous year, because of new clients. For this year, owners expect to see a rise in shipments, and, as a result, a 5-10% rise in revenues, as well as an increase in market share.

Fan Courier provides services to companies of all sizes on the automotive, pharmaceutical, construction, banking, cosmetics markets, as well as to online retailers. One of the company's clients is Flamingo International group, the third-largest player on the electronics and home appliances market, which became insolvent last year.

"We have debt to recover, many small companies, as well as large ones became insolvent. We have 100,000 RON (23,000 euros) to recover from Flamingo. We also have payment delays, which can lead to arrearage, but we are trying to reduce this risk to a minimum," Neculai Mihai said.