Slovenian construction companies finance their operations mainly with bank loans. These amounted to half a billion euros at the end of last year. The combined financial debt of the analysed companies rose by a further EUR 10m last year as half of them was not even able to pay off interest.

The builders have shifted a large portion of their financial burden onto their business partners, owing as much as EUR 384m to them at the beginning of this year, Dnevnik reports.

Noting that most of the builders are no longer in a position to pay back their debts, the daily points out that the actual state of their finances is unknown to the public as many receivership proceedings in the past showed that the builders are also encumbered by the many guarantees for loans hired by their project firms.

The data refer to companies Primorje, CGP Novo mesto, Kraški zidar, Gorenjska gradbena družba, CPL, SŽ-ŽGP Ljubljana, Begrad, Energoplan, Pomgrad - Gradnje, Begrad Gradnje, Strabag, SGP Pomgrad, GIC Gradnje, Granit, KPL, Gradis skupina G, Cestno podjetje Nova Gorica, Stavbenik, VOC Celje and CPK.

The 20 constructors generated a combined revenue of EUR 956m last year and a combined net loss of EUR 77m. This means they generated EUR 1.3bn less revenues than the then top twenty builders did in 2008.

Since the crisis set in, receivership proceedings have been launched at SCT, Vegrad, MTB, Konstruktor VGR, Gradbeno podjetje Bežigrad, Gradis Celje, CPM, GPG, Stavbar Gradnje and Gradbinec GIP.

These ten bankrupt builders alone produced EUR 1.2bn in revenues as late as 2008, or a quarter more than what the biggest still operating construction companies made last year.

But the turmoil in the construction sector is not over yet as two more companies - Gradis G and Energoplan - have entered court-mandated debt restructuring this year, while Primorje will soon end up in receivership.

Last year alone, the revenues of the top 20 builders fell by EUR 72m, but the slump is even bigger since the constructors have so far only disclosed data for the parent companies, while group data will only be available in the coming months.

After the collapse of sales in 2009 and 2010, some of the bigger parent companies managed to increase their revenues last year, but only Gorenjska gradbena družba, CPL, SŽ-ŽGP Ljubljana, GIC Gradnje and KPL trumped results from 2008.

Due to modest turnover, impairments of real estate projects and high financing costs, 14 of the 20 companies under review made a loss or operated at a break-even point, according to the Dnevnik report.