Cargo Partner Romania, the cargo shipping company this year estimates turnover worth 9.5 million euros, more than 60% higher compared with 2005.
At present, the firm owns two branches, one in Otopeni and one in Bucharest. In 2006, Cargo Partner will open branches in Sibiu, Constanta and in the Republic of Moldova. The company is banking on the growth of the distribution market in areas outside of Bucharest.
"We''ll have every chance to expand our operations outside of the capital as the pace of growth is due to slow down in Bucharest," states Kees Cramer, general manager of the Romanian branch of Cargo Partner.
He forecasts that in future, 80% of turnover growth will come from the new branches to be opened outside Bucharest.
"The two branches in Cluj and Timisoara derived profits in 2005," Kees Cramer also says. The opening of these branches allowed the company to double its turnover last year, to 5.7 million euros.
"These two branches are already contributing 40% to the overall turnover of Cargo Partner in Romania," adds Cramer.
Against this backdrop, the company will this year open other branches outside the capital city, in Sibiu, Constanta, as well as in Chisinau in the Republic of Moldova.
"Expansion through new branches opened in other cities is 100% financed from profit derived in Romania, we are not resorting to the resources of foreign branches, or to banking loans," states Cramer.
The new branches are likely to take Cargo turnover to 9.5 million euros this year.
"In the first few months of 2006, we saw growth similar to that registered in the first six months of 2005, though we didn''t expect this to happen," specifies Cramer.
The costs related to the opening of a Cargo Partner branch are not high, because the company starts with a small number of employees and adds more progressively. Moreover, the company does not invest in the construction of warehouses or in car acquisitions, but rents warehouses and sub-contracts transporters.
"We have people, computers and phones," states Kees Cramer. "Amortisation for the construction of logistic centres would be too high and would also make us less flexible to customers'' demands," he argues. "We prefer to be highly flexible, and not necessarily a major player on the market. In the globalisation era, it is not the biggest, but the most adjustable that stands to gain," states Kees Cramer.
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