Sandvik Construction sees flat first quarter

Sandvik Construction had sales of SEK 2.14 billion (US$ 254 million) in the first quarter of the year. The company said this represented a -1% decline in like-for-like terms compared to the same period last year. However, favourable exchange rates meant the value of sales booked was up +1% from the SEK 1.87 billion (US$ 222 million) recorded in the first quarter of 2014.

The company made an operating loss of SEK 95 million (US$ 11.3 million) in the first quarter of 2015, compared to a loss of SEK 11 million (US$ 1.3 million)in the first quarter of 2014. However, the figure for this year included a one-off restructuring charge of SEK 160 million (US$ 19 million). Without this the company would have made a SEK 65 million (US$ 7.7 million) operating profit.

Commenting on the first quarter, the company said in a statement, “Market demand remained generally stable at a low level… In relative terms, the underlying market activity was higher for surface drilling and tunnelling in the first quarter. The market for mobile crushing improved somewhat from depressed levels, driven by increased activity in Northern Europe.”

As a whole, the Sandvik group saw its invoiced sales fall -3% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year at fixed exchange rates, to SEK 23.3 billion (US$ 2.76 billion). Operating profit was down -58% to SEK 1.05 billion (US$ 125 million).