“The most optimistic scenario would mean sales stagnating at their 2008 level, but a realistic estimate would be a 10 percent decline in demand, and the most pessimistic estimate, a 20 percent decline. We do not yet know when the crisis will end. I think nobody knows, but it is obvious that a drop in demand will also affect Holcim Romania’s results,” said the firm’s General Manager, Markus Wirth.
The company official said that Holcim Romania will resort to several measures to overcome the crisis, including cutting costs and adjusting fixed costs on all segments, promoting new products, raising organizational efficiency, and freezing capital investments for increasing the production capacity.
Wirth added that the most important factors to influence demand in 2009 are the attraction of European funds for infrastructure projects and the lending policies of banks.
Company business rose 25 percent in 2008, to €372 million, while investments totaled €133 mln, compared to €126 mln registered in 2007.
