Merko Ehitus experiences increase in sales revenue and profit for Q1 2021

In Q1 2021, Merko Ehitus posted sales revenue of 60 million euros and net profit of 3.4 million euros, increasing by 7% and 67%, respectively, compared to the previous year. In three months, Merko sold 90 apartments and started construction of more than 560 apartments. The volume of the secured order book and new contracts signed also increased in the first quarter.

‘In terms of financial results, we can be satisfied with the first quarter. Despite the lack of new commercial real estate projects, the construction market in the Baltics/Baltic states is currently quite active. At the same time, prospects remain unclear due to the continuing pandemic and the global rise in material prices,’ commented Andres Trink, Chairman of the Management Board of AS Merko Ehitus.

In the first quarter, Merko sold 90 apartments in Tallinn, Tartu, Riga and Vilnius. ‘The apartment market is relatively active in all three Baltic capitals. In the first quarter, we launched construction work on six development projects with a total of 567 apartments and 20 commercial premises. Most of the apartments under construction and for sale today will be completed in 2022,’ added Andres Trink. Merko’s largest apartment development projects were Noblessner, Uus-Veerenni, Metsatuka, Lahekalda and Pikaliiva, in Tallinn; Gaiļezers and Viesturdārzs, in Riga; and Vilneles Skverai, in Vilnius.

In Q1 2021, Merko entered into new contracts worth 97 million euros, the largest of which were for the construction of the second development phase of Noblessner and the Liivalaia Quarter, in Estonia, and for the construction of Tondiraba Park. The group’s companies signed a contract for the construction of Kauguri City Park and Youth House in Latvia, as well as for a production building in Kaunas and for a car maintenance centre in Vilnius, in Lithuania. As at the end of the first quarter, the secured order book increased by 45% year-on-year to 281 million euros.

In the first quarter, the largest objects in Estonia were the third development phase of the Mustamäe medical campus of the North-Estonia Medical Centre, the Tallinn School of Music and Ballet, the renovation of the Nordic Hotel Forum and Tallink City Hotel, and the design and construction of infrastructure of the Republic of Estonia’s southeast land border. In Latvia, the construction of the Orkla waffle and biscuit factory, in Ādaži, and the reconstruction of the Riga University of Technology faculty building were underway; in Lithuania, construction of wind farm infrastructure facilities in the Telšiai district, the Kaunas district police headquarters building, and NATO barracks were underway.

AS Merko Ehitus (group.merko.ee) group consists of AS Merko Ehitus Eesti in Estonia, SIA Merks in Latvia, UAB Merko Statyba in Lithuania and Peritus Entreprenør AS in Norway. Besides providing construction service as a main contractor, the group’s other major area of activity is apartment development. As at the end of 2020, the group employed 666 people, and the group’s revenue for 2020 was EUR 316 million.