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Summary of 2011 in ventilation and air-conditioning industry
2011 brought an unstable situation on the global financial markets which had an impact on the economies of many European countries. As a result, the banks clearly limited their involvement in financing investment and the number of new projects on the construction market was reduced. Another factor was the increase of raw material prices, which reached record levels until September 2011, when certain stabilization could be felt. All these events were not favourable for the development of ventilation and air-conditioning industry, which was registered by the strongest European players. For example, Lindab, one of the greatest producers and distributors of ventilation and air-conditioning systems in Europe, registered only 1% revenue growth after three quarters of 2011 and operating profit on the level of 6.6% (with reference to a ventilation segment only).
The key solution to consolidate one's position under such challenging circumstances was a skilful combination of production and distribution activities, as well as diversification of sales markets. This strategy was adopted by Centrum Klima, which increased its revenues by over 11% and net profit by almost 30% after three quarters of 2011. Efficient sales management and high quality of products facilitated a dynamic export growth, which had already exceeded 33% of turnover. Thus, the company registered a stable operating profit exceeding 10%.
Similar macro-economic factors which influenced the economy of entire Europe, were visible in Poland. Although GDP growth, infrastructural investment and strong domestic demand made this crisis less tangible in our country, many small enterprises could not defend themselves against systematically decreasing margins. Polish industry of ventilation systems is still characterized by a serious fragmentation, about 3,000 companies are operating on the domestic market. Such a great competition contributes to price pressure, which affects the quality of products. Despite this, the price still remains an important decision factor, especially in case of public procurement, we are observing the following market segmentation trend: one part consists of cheap, low quality products and the other consists of more expensive systems which meet the highest norms binding in the European Union. Increased expectations of the recipients had an impact on the results of Centrum Klima, which registered 60% growth of own products sales in Poland after three quarters of 2011.
We assume that 2012 will not bring any major changes in the macro-economic environment, which will result in a lower investment dynamics on the construction market. It will accelerate a natural consolidation of ventilation and air-conditioning industry in Poland, that is an elimination of the weakest players from the market and increasing market shares by the companies with consolidated positions, offering the highest quality products. The trend to improve the standards of ventilation systems should develop further, also during next years. Such events will contribute to the development of Centrum Klima, therefore, we are forecasting further revenue growth and maintaining stable margins. We are planning to increase export systematically and consolidate our position on European markets, where we compete with the largest European players.
Marek Perendyk, President of the Management Board of Centrum Klima
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