October Salaries Not Paid: Building Materials Dealer Quester in Financial Trouble

According to a media report, the building materials dealer Quester is in a financially strained situation. The payment of the October salaries to the approximately 290 Quester employees cannot be made for the time being, writes the online edition of the free newspaper "Heute" with reference to an employee email. The former family business has changed owners three times since 2005 and has belonged to the German "turnaround" specialist Callista Private Equity since June 2025.

Losses and Revenue Decline at Quester

According to the company register, the building materials dealer recorded a loss of 7 million euros and 15 million euros in the years 2023 and 2024, respectively. The company lost market share, and revenue halved over the past 20 years to 130 million euros. "It is true that Quester is currently in a strained situation," the company explained to "Heute". "Currently, different scenarios are being examined, about which we cannot provide any concrete information yet." As soon as there is "reliable and sustainable information," they will inform about it.

Quester Confirms "Currently Challenging Situation"

Quester owner Callista briefly spoke on Friday afternoon. "Quester is currently in a challenging situation. The management is examining various courses of action and evaluating them carefully," said Callista manager Martin Blaumoser to the "Kurier". In September, Quester opened a new tile "flagship store" in the 19th district of Vienna.

The company was founded in 1934 and developed into one of the leading building materials dealers in Austria after 1945. In 2005, the Quester family sold the company to the internationally active CRH Group based in Dublin. In 2019, the business was transferred to the Dutch Building Materials Europe (BME) Group, and in 2025, the German Callista took over the domestic building materials dealer.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.