Construction giant Skanska has been toppled from its position as the biggest construction company in the Czech Republic being replaced in number one position in terms of turnover by rival Eurovia, the daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported Tuesday.
Eurovia recorded turnover of Kč 27.6 billion last year, topping the Kč 24.3 billion of hitherto market leader Skanska which had business worth Kč 27.6 billion. Metrostav was in third place with turnover of Kč 21.1 billion according to the daily.
Large contracts in neighboring Slovakia helped boost Eurovia’s business by around 10 percent while the Czech and Slovak unit of the Swedish multinational Skanska, which also straddles Czech and Slovak markets, fell back by around 20 percent.
Eurovia, formerly the Czech rail and highway construction company Stavby silnic a železnic, relies on around 98 percent of its work on large public tenders for road, rail and other major transport projects. It is part of the giant French construction group Vinci.
Eurovia’s Czech and Slovak turnover figures for 2010 figures do not take into account the local operations of construction raw materials supplier Tarmac agreed at the end of 2010.
After many fat years thanks to booming infrastructure contracts, the financial crisis hit construction companies hard in 2010. Combined turnover for the three biggest construction companies fell to Kč 73 billion last year from Kč 77.9 billion in 2009. Skanska has been involved in a very public battle over the costs and quality of its Czech construction work with outgoing, scandal-hit Minister of Transport Vít Bárta (Public Affairs, VV).