Polyurethane specialist Recticel (Brussels; www.recticel.com) will soon be reporting on just one segment, namely insulation materials for construction and industry. All other divisions have either been sold or are about to be, including engineering foams, which are to be divested to US-based Carpenter (Richmond, Virginia; www.carpenter.com) during the first quarter of 2023.

Meanwhile, the company did not progress on an organic basis in 2022. The 25% sales increase of EUR 112.3 mn to now EUR 561.5 mn is solely attributable to the acquisition of Trimo (Trebnje, Slovenia; www.trimo-group.com), a Slovenian manufacturer of facade cladding. Moreover, the 21% growth in adjusted EBITDA to EUR 43.1 mn did not keep pace with higher sales, with the margin falling 0.2 percentage points to 7.7%.

Related: Recticel sells comfort division to Aquinos

CEO Olivier Chapelle refrained from providing a forecast for the rest of 2023. However, the market for construction and infrastructure applications, which Chapelle said faces “increasing challenges” especially towards the end of 2022, could provide new momentum, which the boss suggested should be bolstered by a “now broadened growth base”.

However, this is offset by increasingly weaker figures in both residential and commercial, and public construction, particularly in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

The German Federal Ministry of Construction said it expects residential construction prices to rise 6% this year and by a further 2.5% in 2024, which is reducing the willingness to invest. In 2023, turnover in Germany’s construction industry is expected to fall 7% in real terms, according to the German Construction Association (ZDB).