Orders up, sales down at Cargotec

For the first half of 2018 orders received at crane manufacturing group Cargotec were up by 11 per cent, to Euro 1,844 million, up from € 1,657 million.

Sales in the same January to June period, however, were down 2 % at € 1,589 million from € 1,628 million. Demand for service was up, with sales increasing 3 % to € 460 million from € 446 million. Operating profit was € 74.5 million, or 4.7 percent of sales, down from € 114.9 million, or 7.1 %. Net income was € 36.0 million against € 72.6 million a year earlier.

Cargotec reiterated its forecast from 8 February 2018, expecting its operating profit, excluding restructuring costs, for 2018 to improve from € 258.6 million in 2017.

Mika Vehviläinen, Cargotec CEO, said, “Cargotec’s second quarter of 2018 was strong with regard to orders received. Orders received grew in Kalmar and Hiab in the second quarter and were 23 percent higher than in the comparison period. Our sales were almost at the previous year’s level, but restructuring costs had a significant negative impact on earnings per share. We proceeded according to our strategy in shaping our portfolio by divesting Kalmar Rough Terrain Center and Siwertell, both of which are outside Kalmar’s core areas.”

By division, Hiab sales in Q2 2018 were up 5 %, to € 295 million from € 282 million in the first quarter of 2017. Kalmar port crane and handling equipment sales were down 2 %, to € 389 million, from € 397 million. MacGregor offshore crane and deck handling equipment sales were down 15 % to € 133 million from € 157 million.