The shares of the group of IT companies Softbinator Technologies (BVB: CODE) plunged by 19% in the first trading hour at the Bucharest Stock Exchange on September 5 to end the day 17% lower than a day ago, Ziarul Financiar reported.

On September 4, the company published the results for the first half of the year, which showed a 57% increase in turnover to RON 17.6 million but also a loss of RON 557,000 from a profit of RON 2.1 million in the same period last year.

The company warns in its half-year report on the threats posed by the Government’s plans to phase out the tax allowances for employees in the IT sector.

Ziarul Financiar puts Softbinator’s story in the context of the crisis faced by the IT industry – a context invoked by the industry associations to criticise the Government’s plans to eliminate the income tax waiver enjoyed by the IT sector employees. But Softbinator’s half-year report unveils another cause of its results (and of the industry’s decline). The company says that last year’s activity (and profit) was driven by M&A activity, while this year, the volume of funds pumped by investors in the sector diminished (and the companies returned to regular, mainstream activity).

A larger IT group listed at Bucharest Exchange, Bittnet Systems (BVB: BNET), reported in August losses from operations despite double turnover. Its shares dropped by another 3.14% to reach the four-year’s lowest level.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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