Plastic profile manufacturer Deceuninck (Hooglede Gits / Belgium; www.deceuninck.com) suffered a 37% fall in earnings (EBITDA) year-on-year to EUR 53.5m in 2006, at the lower end of the range it forecast in December. The company blamed a combination of increased raw materials prices, one-off costs resulting from the launch of new products "Zendow", "Inoutic" and "Twinson" and restructuring costs in the poorly performing US and UK markets. Sales increased by 3% year-on-year to EUR 663m on volumes up 4.6%, in line with provisional figures announced earlier this year – see Plasteurope.com Web of 23.01.2007.

A fall in turnover in the US, UK and Poland was compensated by strong gains in the growing Eastern European and established Western European markets. The devaluation of the Turkish lire led to euro sales in the country increasing by only 3% on volumes up by over 15%. Eastern Europe and Turkey now account for almost 40% of total group turnover.

The company said that 2007 has started well, helped by the mild winter in Europe and Turkey which have also seen initiatives driven by energy saving programmes. The US market began the year slowly. Raw materials prices have now stagnated, albeit at a high level, and sales prices have been adjusted, Deceuninck said.

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