Ulma builds Spanish brand in Poland

Bauma, Poland's second- largest producer of scaffolding and industrial wooden panels, has adopted the name of its Spanish strategic investor and will now operate as Ulma Construccion Polska.

The decision to re-brand came two years after Ulma Construccion, which is a part of the Spanish capital group Ulma, purchased a 97.39-percent stake in Bauma.

Andrzej Kozłowski, the president of Ulma Construccion Polska, said that the new brand will help the company's development on both the Polish and international markets.

"Soon, technology and solutions for organizing a construction site will become our main product and our wooden panels and scaffolding will be just an addition to our offer," said Kozłowski. "I hope that we will be present on the biggest construction sites in Poland."

Cristobal Alvarez, the director general of Ulma Construccion, announced that the Bauma brand will disappear from the Polish market, but he doesn't expect the new brand to bring immediate financial success.

"For the past two years the company has been investing in the development of Bauma and that is why we do not have big expectations towards making a profit in the near future," said Alvarez.

The revenue of the Bauma Group for the first half of 2006 amounted to zł.61.4 million, a 32-percent increase on the zł.46.6 million noted in the same period of 2005. In addition, Spanish Ulma's turnover for 2006 will reach EUR 370 (zł.1,418) million and according to the company's forecast for 2007, turnover will reach EUR 450 (zł.1,724) million.