KeysFin analysts expect a significant advance for 2019, to RON89 billion, and for 2020, they expect the upward trend to continue, though, at a more moderate rate, to approximately RON90 billion.
Some 75,000 companies (10% of the total), which reported financial results for 2018, had as main core business one of the CAEN (Classification of Activities in the National Economy) codes corresponding to the construction sector, which translates into an increase of 4.3% in the number of companies compared to 2017 and of 12.7% compared to 2014. KeysFin analysts expect a consolidation of the index, to over 76.400 companies, for 2019, whereas, for 2020, the increase will be impacted by the Coronavirus epidemic, with the number of companies being seen at some 77,000.
KeysFin analysts also noticed a slight increase in staff numbers in the construction sector, after the record low in 2017, of just 340,000 employees, and 342,000 in 2018.
In 2018, of a total 75,104 companies, 26 were large companies (with a turnover above EUR50 million and over 250 employees), 952 midcap companies (with a turnover of EUR50 to EUR10 million and 250 to 50 employees), 6,503 small companies (with a turnover of EUR10 to EUR2 million and 50 to 10 employees) and 67,600 microenterprises (with a turnover below EUR2 million and fewer than ten employees).
The bulk of turnover in the construction industry (36.7%) was generated by small companies. However, over 24,000 companies (32%) in the sector had a turnover equal to 0 in 2018.
KeysFin analysts also noticed a significant decline in insolvency numbers, of 58%, compared to the negative record level of 3,000 insolvencies in 2013 and 1,018 insolvencies in 2019. In January-April 2020, the constructions sector saw 315 insolvencies, which shows that for now, the sector is not strongly affected by the coronavirus-led crisis.
The latest data released by Romania’s statistics board INS show Romanian construction works (in seasonally adjusted data) fell 2.2% in May compared with April 2020, but grew 14.3% versus May 2019. In January-May 2020, construction works increased by 23.7% compared with the same period in 2019.
Romanian construction works also see positive results in the reports of Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Per Eurostat data, In the EU, building construction decreased by 12.2% and civil engineering by 8.9%. In April 2020 compared with April 2019, production in construction decreased by 28.4% in the euro area and by 24.0% in the EU. Among Member States for which data were available, the largest decreases in production in construction were observed in France (-60.6%), Belgium (-39.0%) and Spain (-32.6%). Increases were observed in Romania (+12.2%), Germany (+0.9%) and Finland (+0.8%).
Per KeysFin data, BOG’ART SRL is leader on the local constructions market, with a turnover of RON925.5 million in 2018 (1.1% of the total). The ranking also includes STRABAG SRL (RON687.8 million and 0.8% of the total) and PORR CONSTRUCT SRL (RON551 million and 0.7% of the total).
The ten largest companies in the sector generated just 6% of the total turnover, which turns the constructions sector into one of the most balanced industries in Romania.
Capital Bucharest ranks first among Romania’s counties by turnover of construction companies headquartered in the capital city, totaling RON26 billion and accounting for nearly 31% of the total countrywide in 2018. Bucharest is followed by Cluj (7.4% of the total), Ilfov (6.9%), Prahova (4%) and Timis (3.8%). Companies registered in the five counties mentioned above account for nearly 53% of the total turnover recorded by the local constructions sector.
Despite the constructions market continuous growth, the number of employees in the sector has nearly halved in the past ten years. The main reasons behind the decline are both the technologies implemented in this field too, and the lack of skilled workforce.