The consolidated turnover of the UPB group in 2022 was 235 million euros, according to the company’s unaudited data.
Most of it, or approximately 60%, was exported with a focus on the design, production and assembly of building structures, and last year several large projects were also successfully implemented in UPB’s new export direction – in the construction of infrastructure objects or bridges.
“For the last three years, the construction industry has been working in difficult conditions – unprecedented challenges have followed each other, forcing us to rapidly adapt to the market situation. Our group of companies is also not an exception, so the pace of project implementation has been generally slower, while we were looking for common denominators in cooperation with the customers, so that the started projects could be continued, but planned – to be started at all. Despite this, last year we were able to maintain a level of turnover equivalent to previous years and start 2023 with a stable and sufficiently large project portfolio for both the domestic and export markets,” says UPB board chairman Dainis Bērziņš.
In 2022, Denmark has become more prominent on the map of export projects – both with the complex production and delivery of large-sized reinforced concrete walls for the Svanemølleholm building complex in Copenhagen, and with the conclusion of the contract for the design and production of UPB’s largest facade to date for the Maria Elizabeth Children’s Hospital, which is planned to be implemented this year.
Several projects with a focus on architectural concrete facades were also implemented last year, demonstrating the high technological complexity that UPB is able to implement in the new reinforced concrete construction production facility. Among the most important projects abroad, the white concrete office building Hyllie Terrass in Malmö, Sweden should be highlighted. It claims the status of Sweden’s first climate-neutral office building (NullCO2).
In general, a lot of resources were dedicated to promoting the climate neutrality of building structures manufactured by UPB, because construction is a sector with very high sustainability requirements. This includes both the development of different strategies to reduce emissions throughout the product life cycle, as well as the exchange of knowledge and closer cooperation in the complete supply chain.
Infrastructure projects – steel bridges – are also a new export direction. Last year, two railway bridges and one pedestrian bridge were installed in Sweden, which was a special challenge because it was made of stainless steel. The largest of the delivered bridges reaches 131 meters and weighs approximately 550 tons.
On the other hand, in the local market in 2022, such significant projects as the Pharmaceutical Studies and Science Complex of Riga Stradins University and the Hampton by Hilton Riga Airport hotel have been implemented. It was implemented as a Design & Build project, with UPB entrusting both design and general construction. On the other hand, one of the largest projects this year will be the design and construction of the Daugava Stadium athletics arena, and work has also started on several industrial objects.
“Our goal is to continue developing as an industrial, vertically integrated group of companies that is able to realize technologically complex projects and offers products with high added value. There are practically no companies similar to ours in the nearest region, so we will work so that we can continue our growth this year,” adds the head of UPB.
In order to promote development, around 2.6 million euros were invested in the UPB group last year, with total investments reaching more than 42 million euros in the last five years. Last year, the largest investments were made in the group company Transportbetons MB, modernizing the Valmiera concrete plant and renovating the company’s specialized vehicle fleet. Investments were also made in the modernization of other production plants of the group.
