Tiriac Holdings Scarcely Affected By Intl Financial Turmoil - Official

Tiriac Holdings mainly operates in auto, real estate, leasing and air transport sectors.

 

Tiriac said real estate and auto sectors require long-term strategies, especially due to the investments needed.

 

"If we had targeted immediate profit, we would have invested in other sectors, but we aim at developing long-term, serious, and professional business in Romania," Tiriac told Mediafax.

 

Tiriac Holdings eyes a EUR2.2 billion turnover in 2008, up 37% from EUR1.6 billion a year earlier, the company’s representatives said in June.

 

The group includes TiriacAuto, Tiriac Imobiliare, Tiriac Leasing and Tiriac Air companies, as well as security company SecurIT Force and elevator producer IFMA.

 

TiriacAuto holds the biggest share in the group’s turnover, with over EUR900 million in 2007 and an estimated EUR1.4 billion this year.

 

According to Tiriac’s estimations, the auto market will register a slight decrease this year.

 

As for the real estate segment, Tiriac considers that transactions as well as prices might grow in the next 6 to 12 months, while the financial service sector registered a positive trend in 2008 due to new, more flexible products and services.

 

In the businessman’s opinion, the worldwide financial crisis will continue to generate inflationist pressures.

 

"The central bank is obviously considering long-term inflationist pressures, which continue to be high, so that it revised up its 2008 and 2009 inflation forecasts, from 6% to 6.6%, and from 3.5% to 4.2%, respectively. I consider there will be a higher growth, by at least half percentage point, which is absolutely normal given the current turmoil on the financial markets," Tiriac Holdings representative stated.

 

Tiriac said Romania continues to be attractive for foreign investors despite the worldwide financial crisis, which also affects it, and other issues, like the scarcity of the necessary infrastructure.

 

On the other hand, Romanian companies should be restructured and rearranged, then seek for an international strategic partner, in order to become competitive abroad, Tiriac concluded.