Record half year for Konecranes

Industrial crane manufacturer KCI Konecranes received a record value of orders of €369.2 million (US$470 million) during the second quarter of 2006. Total orders for January to June were €701.9 million ($894 million) and sales for the first half of the year rose by 48.9% to €636.6 million ($811 million).

Pekka Lundmark, president and CEO, said, “The positive development of all key aspects of our business continued in the second quarter. The strong demand for both new equipment and maintenance services continued in all geographICal regions, and we were able to significantly increase our manufacturing output. The sales growth of nearly 50% demonstrates clearly improved market shares. As expected, all business areas showed improving margins.”

The second quarter saw the completion of a major acquisition, as a KCI Konecranes subsidiary bought 100% of the shares in MMH Holdings, Inc, the owner of US-based Morris Materials Handling, Inc. Gains from this acquisition will be reflected in the next set of results, due out in November.