Construction forecast to fall
Results from construction companies for the first quarter are not as good as expected and suggest that the downturn in the industry is not yet over. Examples of this come from materials manufacturers such as window glass production which is 35 percent down and roof covering producers which have seen a forty percent downturn. Paweł Puchalski, analyst at Raiffeisen Capital and Investment Polska believes that the downturn will not get better and that the percentage fall across the board could be in double figures. Nonetheless he sees individual order drops of up to forty percent as being an exaggeration. Robert Chojnacki of BM BGZ also sees a drop of ten to twelve percent in the market. Marek Majewski of BDM PKO BP is less pessimistic and sees a five percent drop in the market. The summer months are of course good for the construction industry and will possibly witness a lot of investment. However this effects large companies, not the smaller ones which do not report statistical information and therefore the real figures could be much worse. However there are sectors within the industry which will continue to expand such as retail centres and housing. Nevertheless the sale of housing is getting increasingly difficult. Road building is likely to have a good year. Gdańsk based GPRD has already produced good results for the first quarter.