Plastic pipe systems manufacturer Poloplast (Leonding / Austria; www.poloplast.com) has reported 2007 sales up 10% on the previous year at EUR 83m, with EBIT topping 10% of sales, said managing director Wolfgang Lutz. In the period up to the end of July, sales reached record levels. This, however, was not sustained throughout the remainder of the year due to sluggish market conditions in the construction industry.

Around half the sales growth was achieved in Austria, said Lutz, although significant rises had also been posted in Germany and in Spain, going against market trends in the countries. The strength of the Euro had a negative effect on revenues outside Europe.

Capital expenditure of EUR 40m is earmarked for the next few years for the company's main site in Leonding and at its German subsidiary in Ebenhofen. Spending will be financed from the company’s the cash flow. "We have reached our capacity limit and want to safeguard production over the long term," said Lutz, adding that the focus was, primarily, on extending production capacity for plumbing and public sewerage pipes.

By the end of May 2008, a new logistics centre will have been completed in Leonding to accommodate 12,000 pallets. As a result, around 3,200 m² former warehouse space will become free in the second half of the year to expand the production area. From 2009, the company should have the capacity to generate additional turnover to reach the planned budgeted sales figure of EUR 150m by 2012.

Poloplast estimates that, in addition to the present workforce of 346, a further 100 jobs will be added by 2012, around 75 of them in Austria. In parallel with this, the company plans to significantly expand its activities in eastern Europe and, in line with its strategy to develop its customer base, to build a plant in Russia or the Ukraine.