The shares of Romanian organic fertilizer producer Norofert rose by 9% after the company reported robust half-year earnings.

Its market capitalization surged to RON 100 mln (EUR 20.7 mln), nearly four times the level recorded six months ago when its shares were listed at the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).

Norofert Grup, the first listed company in the agrotech sector, reported a sixfold increase in the half-yearly turnover, to RON 14.38 million (EUR 3 mln). Its net income reached the equivalent of 75% of total net earnings in the past year: RON 3.43 mln (EUR 0.7 mln), compared to a small loss in the first half of last year.

"The impact of COVID-19 on Norofert was minimal, due to our business model, to produce inputs long before the start of agricultural campaigns. We did not register significant delays in our activity," said the company's CEO and the majority shareholder, Vlad Popescu, in the half-year report.

"In fact, the context of the pandemic propelled us, and we decided to take another step towards digitization by launching our own online store, where farmers can purchase all Norofert products without having to contact the sales team," he added.

andrei@romania-insider.com

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