Half of all the Czech contractors have had orders cancelled this year, according to a new study by CEEC Research. It wrote that even confirmed orders were being called off and that companies were having trouble getting construction materials delivered. Overall, the managers of the companies surveyed expected a 25 percent drop in profits, with losses to be covered using reserve capital and help from the state. One-third of all contractors have already had requests to delay payments. “Many jobs, especially the big ones, can’t be done over the phone or by email,” said CEEC Research’s boss Jiří Vacek. “This causes complications like changing timelines for completion or total cancellations.” With a significant portion of suppliers located in other countries, a third of the contractors have had their materials supply chain disrupted. “Our orders are contracted several months in advance,” said the exeuctive of the concrete supplier TBG Metrostav Jakub Šimáček. “Thanks to various internal measures we have higher operational expenses but I can’t predict how that will influence our profits.” Miroslav Lihnhart, a partner at Deloitte, warns that lessons should be taken from mistakes made by the state during the last economic crisis on its investments in roads and highways. “That means, don’t stop the preparation work on projects and their financing. The construction industry is still hampered by the enforced exodus of foreign workers after the crisis in 2008.”
