Profile manufacturer Deceuninck (Hooglede-Gits / Belgium; www.deceuninck.com) has reported sales of EUR 128m for the fourth quarter of 2009, a year-on-year fall of 9.4%. In a trading update, the company blamed the “severe crisis” in the construction sector and weak local currencies for a 25% fall in sales in its central and eastern Europe region, which includes Germany, although sales in the German market fell back only slightly. Overall sales volumes dropped by 2.1%, although they remained constant year-on-year in November and December. The result was negatively hit by currency exchange and product/price mix effects of 4.1% and 3.2% respectively.

Sales in the fourth quarter were stable year-on-year in western Europe, with Belgium and France performing better than the UK and Spain, which were below the average for the region. In Turkey, sales fell by 6%, due mainly to the weakness of the Turkish lira. Expressed in lira terms, sales increased by 5%. The US market saw a 9% year-on-year increase in sales expressed in euro, boosted by the government’s scheme to replace old windows with modern, energy efficient designs.

Full year sales in 2009 fell by almost 20% to EUR 506m with volumes down by 15.3%. Western Europe (excluding Germany) accounted for 41% of sales, central and eastern Europe (including Germany) 32%, Turkey 16% and the US 11%.

Looking to 2010, Deceuninck CEO Tom Debusschere said: “Fundamentally, energy-efficient construction and renovation will be the engine of the construction market. The PVC window remains the ‘best value’ solution for savings on energy and maintenance. However, in the short term visibility remains limited. For 2010 we are assuming a stable volume.” He added that the company's financial restructuring – see Plasteurope.com of 27.05.2009 – has been completed along with operational restructuring in all regions, with the aim of improving cash flow and profitability in 2010.

The company will announce its full year 2009 results on 18 March 2010.