State-owned IAR Brasov (IARB) aircraft maintenance and repair company was floated for the first time on the Bucharest Stock
Exchange’s (BVB) main market on July 14, after being transferred from the Rasdaq market.
IAR shareholders decided the transfer in February and in early July the company received the approval from BVB’s Administration Council.
Over 72 per cent of IAR Brasov shares are owned by the Romanian state (Economy, Commerce and Tourism Ministry – 64.89 per cent, Labour Ministry – 7.4 per cent), and the other 28 per cent are owned by investors.
The state-owned IAR Brasov (IARV) aircraft maintenance and repair company could attract EUR 11-12 M on the stock exchange, for the upgrading and purchase of equipment, if it becomes a subcontractor for the new plant that Airbus Helicopters will build in Brasov County.
In October, Airbus Helicopters will start the construction of a new plant in Ghimbav, Brasov County, on a plot of land offered by IAR. The Brasov-based company wants to obtain more contracts for the supplying of aircraft components such as airframe components and electrical wiring.
In this context, the company will analyze the need to upgrade some of its equipment, IAR Brasov CEO Neculai Banea stated at a press conference organized on Tuesday on the occasion of the company’s transfer to BVB’s regulated market.
“We consider drawing some of the money from the stock exchange. We are thinking about EUR 11-12 M. It concerns the purchase and upgrading of some equipment,” Banea stated.
The drawing of low-cost financing is the main advantage of the transfer to BVB’s regulated market and the company wants this instrument to become a key factor in developing the company, an IAR Brasov communiqué shows.
Over 72 per cent of IAR Brasov shares are owned by the Romanian state (Economy, Commerce and Tourism Ministry – 64.89 per cent, Labour Ministry – 7.4 per cent), and the other 28 per cent are owned by investors. IAR Brasov’s most recent stock quote stood at RON 4.799 per share, up by 1.9 per cent. The company has a capitalization of RON 90.6 M (EUR 20.5 M).
In the first quarter of this year IAR Brasov reported a turnover of RON 35.6 M, ten times higher year-on-year. The company registered a profit of RON 11 M in the first three months of the year, compared to a loss of RON 2.48 M in the same period last year.
In mid-2014 the IAR Brasov shareholders decided to put at the disposal of Airbus Helicopters a 15,000-square-meter plot of land for the production of Super Puma helicopters in Romania. Vadstena, the company registered by Airbus Helicopters in Romania, plans to build an industrial hall with a surface of 8,550 square meters, in order to produce Super Puma Mk I helicopters in Romania.
Airbus Helicopters, previously known as Eurocopter, has approximately 23,000 employees worldwide and is present in Romania through Eurocopter Romania. Airbus Helicopters owns 51 per cent of that company’s shares, the difference being owned by IAR. Created in 2002, Eurocopter Romania is active on the civilian and military markets and is the group’s main industrial centre that offers modernization and repair works for Puma and Alouette helicopters on the global market.
In 2008, Eurocopter Romania launched its maintenance, general overhaul and upgrade services for Super Puma helicopters.
Super Puma Mk I helicopters to be made in Brasov
IAR Brasov’s project to produce Super Puma Mk I helicopters is still endowed with present interest. This was confirmed by Tuesday’s meeting at the Economy Ministry, a meeting attended by Economy Ministry Secretary of State Sorin Encutescu and an Airbus Helicopters Industries Romania delegation consisting of CEO Serge Durand and CEO, CFO and CAO Walter H. Linder.
The stage of the overtures made in order for Romania to have the capacity to produce Super Puma Mk I helicopters was presented during the meeting. The two Airbus Helicopters Romania representatives pointed out their preoccupation with the start of the works on the new plant in mid-October this year. Likewise, they outlined the timeliness of Romanian aerospace companies’ involvement in the project as subcontractors.
The setting up of this production capacity will also result in job creation, the process of recruiting the first batch of highly-qualified employees being finalized in proportion of 95 per cent.
