However, the country faces growing inflation rates,
in large part due to rising natural gas prices driven by
uncertainties around future supply. This has
hampered visibility for the remainder of the year, as
consumers likely re-evaluate investment decisions
based on the relatively higher cost of living and
general economic uncertainties.
As a result thereof, the number of building permits
issued has declined by 11% year-on-year. Further,
the rising inflation is driving an increasing trend of
postponements of construction starts.
While H+H continues to assume that there will be
sufficient gas supplies available for the second half
of the year, the Company has taken precautionary
measures to ensure the continuous availability of
energy to safeguard production in the exceptional
event of limited availability of natural gas.
Currently, the majority of the factories in the Central
Western Europe region have the capability to use oil
as an alternative energy source if necessary.
Potential uncertainties therefore relate to a limited
share of H+H’s production volume in the region.
While H+H has taken certain measures to safeguard
its own production in the extraordinary event of
limited availability of natural gas, major
uncertainties still relate to the Company’s supply
chains and the continuous availability of relevant
raw materials.
The upgrade of the Wittenborn factory continues as
planned with support from the Feuchtwangen and
the Domapor factories. Further, the integration of
the Domapor factory into the wider German factory
network continues in line with plans.
In the Nordics, the latest economic analyses point to
a relatively more negative outlook for the
construction industry due to high inflation and a
shortage of labour and materials. However, current
activity levels remain high, and the largest
housebuilders are reporting strong forward sales for
the remainder of 2022.
In both Switzerland and the Benelux countries,
uncertainties from current geopolitical events
continue to weigh on the expected economic growth
for 2022.
In the United Kingdom (“UK”), the construction
industry is still expected to continue growing, albeit
at slower rates than previously expected. The
downward revision comes as a result of growing
inflation arising from both local and global issues.
In the private housing segment, demand remains
strong and resilient, but in combination with the
growing inflation, rising interest rates are expected
to adversely impact consumer confidence in the
country. Nevertheless, housing sales rates remain
high, and housebuilders continue to report strong
forward sales for the remainder of the year.
The general expectation is therefore that the UK
housing market will continue to provide favourable
market conditions in the short term, but increased
levels of uncertainty fuel the anticipation of tougher
conditions in the medium term.
In Poland, demand remained solid in the second
quarter and supported the implementation of
significant sales price increases to counter the
growing inflation on raw materials.
The number of building permits issued over the
January to June period remains at a high level, and
housing completions are continuing along an upward
trend. However, growing inflation and rising interest
rates have adversely impacted Polish purchasing
power. This will likely influence investment decisions
in the country and construction starts have already
decreased by approximately 17% compared to the
corresponding period in 2021.
It remains unclear to which extent the great number
of refugees from Ukraine will impact the Polish
housing markets, but the situation will likely add to
the need for additional new-build construction
activity due to the already significant shortage of
housing space in the country.
The expansion of the Company’s AAC factory in Reda
with one additional CSU production line is continuing
as planned. H+H expects that production will
commence in September 2022.
H+H’s diversified geographical footprint and strong
factory networks provide a resilient market position.
For the second half of the year, H+H expects
continued positive market developments with a
gradual stabilisation of demand levels.
These expectations are based on the assumptions of
continuous availability of relevant energy sources
and raw materials and neither escalations of the war