Hitachi weathers the storm

Hitachi Construction Machinery’s revenues for the fiscal year ending March 31 fell -5.5% compared to the previous year to JPY 772 billion (US$ 8.21 billion). However, the company saw a +1.9% rise in net profits to JPY 23.4 billion (US$ 250 million).

The biggest downturn for the company last year was in China, where revenues fell -32.7% to JPY 90.8 billion (US$ 966 million). It also saw a -11% fall in European revenues to JPY 57.3 billion (US$ 610 million) and its domestic sales were down -9% to JPY 192 billion (US$ 2.04 billion). Hitachi said the downturn in revenues from Japan was due to the company’s sale of its subsidiary TCM, which was announced in August.

In fact the sale of TCM accounted for the company’s overall downturn in top-line revenues. According to Hitachi its sales of construction machinery increase +1% year on year to JPY 758 billion (US$ 8.06 billion).

On the positive side, Hitachi’s revenues from the Americas rose +23.4% to JPY 114 billion (US$ 1.21 billion) over the course of the year, and sales in Africa, the CIS and Middle East were up +12.8% to JPY 80.9 billion (US$ 861 million).

Looking ahead, Hitachi said it expects a recovery in the Chinese market over the next 12 months and continuing growth for equipment from rental companies in Japan and the US. However, it added that the European market would remain sluggish. Its forecast for the next 12 months was for a +7.5% increase in revenues to JPY 830 billion (US$ 8.83 billion), while net profits are expected to increase more than +50% to JPY 37 billion (US$ 395 million).