The worldwide recession and the strength of the euro led sales at plastics profile manufacturer Deceuninck (Hooglede-Gits / Belgium; www.deceuninck.com) to fall by 11.1% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2008 to EUR 141m, accompanied by a 13.3% fall in volumes. Full year 2008 sales fell by 4.2% compared with 2007, to EUR 629m. At steady exchange rates the fall would have been 2.2%.

In Europe, sales fell by 10% in the fourth quarter, with volumes dropping by 11.5%. Deceuninck said that reduced consumer confidence affected the turnover in most mature markets in western Europe as well as the growth markets of central and eastern Europe. Bucking the trend, turnover in the Belgian market increased by 9% and remained steady in France. Fourth quarter volumes decreased slightly in Turkey and sales in the US fell by 26% in dollar terms.

For the full year 2008, sales increased in the most important European markets, with the exception of the UK, Spain and Poland. The weakness of the Turkish lira against the euro led turnover in Turkey to decrease by 3%, despite a 3% increase in volumes in the country.

Deceuninck said that the hoped-for change in exchange rates for the Turkish lira against the euro and the US dollar had not materialised, and expects to announce a loss when it publishes its 2008 annual results on 12 March 2009. The company announced a rights issue in December 2008 to strengthen its capital base – see Plasteurope.com of 10.12.2008.