Market Építő Zrt. achieved a sales revenue of 170 billion last year, and they expect an even better year this year, founder and CEO Sándor Scheer told vesző.hu. As he emphasized, domestic construction companies were not put in an impossibly difficult situation by the epidemic, they worked through the second wave. However, the office market is being transformed by the coronavirus epidemic.

What is the impact of the current second wave of the coronavirus epidemic on the Hungarian construction industry? What market transformations have started due to the crisis?

We see that the workers who returned home in the first wave largely stayed at home. Because of the epidemic, they no longer like to go to Germany or other European countries. Material distributors started to see a price drop, mainly because demand in the European construction industry fell by around 5-10 percent. In general, however, it can be said that the construction industry is one of those sectors that only partially felt the negative effects of the epidemic. It can be said that the companies operating in the sector worked through the second wave.

Didn't construction industry companies go bankrupt in Hungary because of the current crisis?

No, it wasn't like that at home.

What year is Market Építő Zrt. looking forward to?

We are starting the year with particularly good prospects. Last year, due to the epidemic, several investments had to be rescheduled. It happened that the start of a project was delayed by months, but the sales revenue that was lost in 2020 as a result was largely transferred to this year. In addition, it can be guessed that the number of orders will also increase as the epidemic subsides. This year I expect strong, exceptional traffic.

What was last year's sales?

At Market Építő Zrt., instead of the planned turnover of HUF 190 billion, we realized HUF 170 billion last year. But as I mentioned, this missing 20 billion will probably flow in this year. At the level of the Market group, we do not yet have exact data, but the sales revenue may have been around 180-185 billion.

How much easier or harder is it to recruit now than it was before the pandemic?

Last summer, there was an example of several professionals asking us if we could offer them a job. At that time, the number of unemployed people in the sector increased noticeably, and now this situation has normalized. As the appetite for investment waned, companies absorbed the workforce.

How difficult is it to comply with epidemiological regulations on construction sites?

Last spring, it was still a serious problem that many people among manual workers were skeptical about the epidemic. It required enormous energy from the managers of the construction sites to comply with the epidemiological regulations, as the workers did not want to wear masks and did not pay attention to the proper distance. Since then, the situation has changed a lot. By now, the press has become full of alarming death data, which has also convinced workers that COVID-19 must be taken seriously. Today, they enforce the rules without warning.

What effect does the current crisis have on major projects already underway, such as the construction of the MOL Campus?

In this area, the crisis had no significant effect. Our foreign suppliers also delivered on time. Our administrative tasks have increased, for example due to the curfew, but we have now adapted to the new situation.

What do you think about the office market? How do you see that there will be more large office investments in Budapest in the near future?

Some of the companies have apparently come to terms with the idea that employees can also work from home offices, but this alone will not radically transform the sector. Due to the coronavirus epidemic, a drop of about 10 percent can be expected in the office market. But there are plenty of companies where it is not possible for everyone to manage their affairs remotely.

What will change more in the case of the new offices is the structure: the office interiors will look different, and the entry system will change. Hygiene aspects will probably play a bigger role in the design – for example, they will make sure that the ventilation systems can be better separated.

What do you think about the state rental housing program? Is necessary?

In Hungary, at least 20,000-25,000 apartments must be built annually in order for the housing stock to remain at the same level, so that it does not depreciate. I think there is definitely a place for the rental housing program, even though Hungarian people typically want to live in their own apartments. In the case of the younger age group, however, this is no longer so clear. In the first place, rental apartments are only useful because they help the mobility of the population.

There are opinions according to which the state has more seriously withdrawn from public investments as a result of the coronavirus. Do you see it that way?

I don't have exact figures on this, but the situation is similar to private investments. Because of the epidemic, there are many slippages everywhere, because it is more difficult to prepare projects.

Source: novekedes.hu