The company has 18 construction supplies distribution centers throughout Romania and also operates in Ukraine, Serbia, Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova.
The decline in sales was due to the continued decline of the construction sector last year, which only became worse at the beginning of 2014.
“The construction market continued its 10% to 15% annual downward trend in 2013,” said Marinela Bujor, marketing manager of Arabesque.
This year’s revenue should go up by about 3% and reach EUR350 million, while profit should amount to about EUR8 million, 17% higher than in 2013. Exports should increase by some 40% to 20 million lei (EUR4.5 million).
“We hope the market will be at least flat in 2014 if not reverse its trend. The signals have been slightly positive so far, the decline in interest in bank deposits, the restart of lending, investments and EU fund absorption improvement could all make a significant positive impact,” the Arabesque official added.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)