They say that Ductil Buzau (DUCL.RO), which saw an about 13.7% increase in sales in the first six months, has been getting fewer orders since September.
“The first signs of decline in orders appeared in September and October, which are less significant on the Romanian market and more serious in Central Europe, especially when it comes to welding equipment,” says Razvan Batrinu, general manager of Ductil Buzau. He added that it also became more difficult to anticipate order trends, which fluctuate heavily during a month, in June.
Batrinu, 40, is running the operations of the Air Liquide group in eleven countries in the Central and Eastern Europe, whose sales stood at about EUR90 million.
He expects 2012 to be more difficult and believes sales will go down slightly.
Ductil works with industrial clients, so a decline in orders could be signaling a slowdown of the industry, which has been driving Romania’s economic rebound. One of the important segments the company’s sales go to is shipbuilding and metal construction.
The company based in Buzau (SE Romania) is part of the Air Liquide group, and is the leader on the welding and cutting equipment segment of its home market. Welding electrodes account for about 60% of its business, while welding and cutting equipment accounts for less than 10% of sales.
Ductil exports two thirds of its output, especially to companies and wholesalers in the Air Liquide group in Italy, France, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia.
It posted 74.1 million lei (EUR17.15 million) sales in the first half, up about 13.7% on the same time last year, while its profit fell 35% to RON4.3 million (EUR1 million).
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)