Ambient’s results are in keeping with the market’s downward trend, announced by other retailers in the field, such as Arabesque and Dedeman. The latter two posted drops in sales by up to one fifth, due to frozen real estate projects, limited access of individuals to loans, and the psychological pressure of the crisis, which led to a postponement of investments in construction materials.
“The reasons for this decline are related to the some 25 percent slowdown in the construction industry, doubled by the fact that the state budget was approved and applied as late as the second half of February. Also, in Romania, especially in Transylvania, Ambient’s preferred region, weather conditions were less favorable than in 2008,” Ioan Ciolan, the company’s majority shareholder, told Business Standard.
Ciolan added that Ambient has a €2 million maintenance budget and may initiate new projects, depending on Romania’s macroeconomic evolution, but no sooner than the fourth quarter.
Ambient Sibiu’s business rose 19.3 percent in 2008, to RON 852.3 mln (€231.6 mln), below the January 2008 estimate, which forecast a 35-40 percent increase.
