NPR - THE BUSINESS RETURN EVOLUTION OF BIG FARMS IN SOUTHERN ROMANIA

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to identify trends in the profitability and the impact of subsidies upon a group of large farms. The paper analyses the main financial results of 32 big farms covering 83,300 ha located on the most fertile farmland in southern Romania. Each indicator is tracked from 2010 till 2017 and then summed up to the level of the 32 farms; the analysis is made on the aggregated level. Thus, we analyze assets, capital, debts, income, turnover, expenses, net profit, subsidies, number of employees and we computed profitability and productivity. During the eight years under review, farms are capitalizing, investing in assets, they are growing and diversifying, reducing their need for loans and their indebtedness ratio. The need for capital increases, while the assignability and attractiveness fall. The number of employees increases and their productivity drops. Subsidies go up and even profit margins are small, profitability and productivity rise and thus, farms efficiency are growing.

Keywords: farm, assets, income, subsidies, productivity, Romania