Furniture firm in safe seat as Forte bucks annual market trend

One of the furniture market's big players, Forte, has bucked the sector's traditional trend for a second quarter downturn with booming sales to post a profit. Results for the last quarter took into account the recent acquisition of market competitor Furnel. "We have recorded a major improvement in figures," said Forte's deputy president Andrzej Korzeb. The company is likely to present zł.100 million in sales for the period - an increase of almost 43% in comparison to 2003. A major factor at the net level is the effect of the falling Euro exchange rate in relation to the złoty - an important issue for the concern as the majority of Forte's loans are held in Euros. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 6) M.M.