Spanish door giant losses double

Spain’s leading timber door maker Norma Doors saw losses increase to €3.7m last year from €1.5m in 2008.

The company, which is part of the JELD-WEN group, also saw sales fall by over 16% from €64.4m to €54.7m.

Norma attributed its worsening deficit to the depressed market, but at its annual general meeting incoming chief executive Jose Luis Pineda, who takes over from Mark Oullet, and his new management team said that they had a “detailed feasibility plan” for turning the business around.

This includes a period of temporary layoffs. The company has been given permission to suspend the contracts of 85% of its workers for a total of nine months over a period of two years.

This move, said chief financial officer Ricardo Gutierrez, should enable it to avoid axing jobs.

“We have never raised [the possibility] of terminating contracts,” he said.

The company also said that it would be helped out of the recession by the “strong commitment and support” of JELD-WEN and the fact that it had “the best and most modern door plant in Europe”.

Norma last year exported 12.4% of production, compared to 11% in 2008.