After a three-year overheating that led the Quebec hardware maker BMR to a record year last year, the price of building materials should drop in the coming months, according to the big boss of Sollio Groupe Coopératif.
“We don’t see any price increases on the horizon for the next year. We rather see declines, ”said Pascal Houle, CEO of Sollio Groupe Coopératif, which includes BMR, Olymel and Agriculture, in an interview with the Journal, on Wednesday.
“In lumber, plywood, prices are low. We don’t see an increase. It could continue to drop in the coming months”, went so far as to say the one who led BMR before taking the lead of the whole group.
Today, BMR announced a record pre-tax surplus of $53.8 million, compared to $28.2 million last year. This corresponds to a jump of $25.6 million, or 91%.
Rising commodity prices, the arrival of new merchants and inflation may explain these results. But the construction sector is running out of steam now.
After a historic $23.5 billion in spending last year in the industry, 2023 is expected to plunge 15%, to $20 billion, according to the Association of Building and Housing Professionals of the United States. Quebec (APCHQ).
This lull could, however, smile on Quebecers who have renovation projects.
“This is good news for consumers, prices are tending to fall,” says Pascal Houle.
“We expect less demand for materials. Housing starts are less strong, ”he observes.
Olymel in the red
As for Olymel, the good financial results in processed pork and poultry contrast with the fresh pork sector, which saw the Chinese market closed for several months.
“We have lost nearly 390 million dollars in the last two years in fresh pork”, concedes Pascal Houle during an interview with Le Journal.
When asked if there could be other plant closures after that of Saint-Hyacinthe which marked the spirits, the senior leader is cautious in his answer.
“We are considering all scenarios. We are looking at the entire pork sector. We don’t currently have a factory closure in our plans,” he said.
“But I would tell you that our objective is really a turnaround in the pork sector at Olymel,” he hastens to add.
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Highlights
On Thursday, Sollio Cooperative Group announced sales of $8.9 billion for the last fiscal year, up $1 billion, or 13%, from a year ago, but a loss before taxes and patronage refunds of 337, 5 million dollars, fifteen times greater than that of 21.5 million dollars for the same period last year.