ZUE builder aims to uphold 6 pct gross sales margin; order backlog likely to increase

"Our goal is to maximise the margin, and we will certainly strive to achieve this," said ZUE's CEO Wieslaw Nowak.

The gross sales margin increased in the first half of 2025 to 6.7 percent from 4.5 percent in the prior year period.

ZUE stated in a presentation that the order portfolio amounts to over PLN 1.1 billion (EUR 258.7 mln), and the group is awaiting, among other things, to secure a large railway contract for the modernisation of line 202 between Gdynia Chylonia and Lebork. This is a gross offer worth over PLN 3 billion (EUR 705.5 mln).

As announced by the CEO, the company is also implementing other railway contracts and acquiring new contracts on the urban infrastructure market, including in Warsaw, Cracow, Szczecin and Silesia region.

"There are prospects for increasing the portfolio. Several tenders will be held in the near future, in which we will submit bids (...)," Nowak said.

"I would not like to say what portfolio we expect at the end of the year. (...) We want to increase it - and quite significantly," he added.

ZUE also carries out contracts abroad and, as the CEO announced, ZUE Construct S.R.L. has been established in Romania, registered in Romania, and this entity will be used to acquire further contracts.

"We are modernising railway lines there and submitting further bids in the hope of winning more contracts," added Nowak.

The German company ZUE Bahnbau GmbH has been pre-qualified to carry out traction network construction projects in Germany and is in the advanced stages of pre-qualification for the construction of track surfaces, including tracks and switches.

"This company has started bidding. We have submitted two bids – we want to enter this market with as little risk as possible," the CEO said.

The group does not plan to establish a company in Slovakia.

The management board expects that there will be more military-related bids on the market and has therefore applied for Poland's domestic counterintelligence and security agency ISA certification.

According to the CEO, when it comes to the participation of non-EU companies in tenders, EU funds should be used by companies from within the EU.

"Contractors from outside the EU should not be treated on an equal footing with EU contractors in tenders for EU funds," Nowak said.

"The truth is that the requirements for meeting the conditions in tenders are often so high that Polish entities are unable to meet them on their own," he added.

ZUE is an entity operating in the railway and urban infrastructure construction industry.

The group's main activity is the provision of comprehensive construction and modernisation services for tram and railway lines, including accompanying infrastructure (e.g. earthworks and subgrade construction, drainage systems, and engineering and building structures, including stations) on a general contractor basis.

Since 2022, the group has also been carrying out road works.

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