<Project firms do not have money for operations, half are looking for an investor>

Prague - Design companies in the Czech Republic are struggling with a critical shortage of funds. Almost half of them (42 percent) are looking for a strategic partner who would bring capital to finance operations, or possibly even for the development of the company. This is based on the current Study of Design Companies 2013, published today by the analytical company CEEC Research.
    "The critical state of the construction design sector and the significant drop in revenues, which have fallen on average by 27 percent compared to the pre-crisis period, has manifested itself in companies starting to experience a lack of funds even for their very operations," noted the director of CEEC Research Jiří Vacek, adding that there are not that many investors in the market.
    Directors of a hundred design companies, whose opinions are summarized in the study, have a clear outlook on the future of the sector. A full 72 percent of them expect that this year every tenth company will go bankrupt. Small and medium-sized enterprises will face the biggest problems.
    Even the companies that survive will not have an easy path. The heads of design firms estimate that the market for design work will decline by another 6.1 percent year-on-year this year. Stabilization of the sector could occur as early as next year.