National carrier Tarom's losses in the first four months of 2013 reached over EUR 15 million, some EUR 6.8 million more than foreseen in the management plan. Meanwhile, losses for the first quarter were some EUR 11.2 million, 24 percent less than in Q1 2012.

“Interim financial results show that we reduced the estimated losses. Speaking of a 6 percent improvement in the financial results in April from those projected in the management plan. [...] In the first four months of 2013, financial losses were reduced by RON 36 million [some EUR 8.2 million] compared with the same period last year, which means a better performance by 35 percent,” said the executive director of Tarom Christian Heinzmann, quoted by local news agency Mediafax.

The company ended last year with preliminary unaudited losses of nearly EUR 53 million. The management plan for 2013 foresees a loss of around EUR 32 million this year and around EUR 4 million in 2014. If all goes to plan, the company should return to profit in 2015, around EUR 20 million according to the company's predictions, followed by a nearly EUR 40 million profit in 2016. The firm hopes to reduce staff by 10 percent this year under a voluntary redundancy program, according to Mediafax.

The company is also hoping to up its annual of passengers, by 100,000 passengers per year, from 2.3 million this year to 2.6 million in 2016.

Christian Edouard Heinzmann’s four year contract as Tarom’s new CEO started in November 2012. Heinzmann has 25 years of experience in the airline industry, and previously implemented a restructuring strategy at Luxair. He also worked with Albanian Airlines and GMG Airlines in Bangladesh.

A secondary public offering is planned for Tarom and it was one of the first part publicly owned companies to have private sector management installed. Privatizations and installation of management teams from the private sector are among the commitments Romania has made to the International Monetary Fund but has struggled to complete within the scheduled time-frame. The IMF extended the current agreement to allow the Romania time to meet all the objectives.

editor@romania-insider.com