Terex sales halve

Terex reported 2009 sales of US$ 4 billion, down -51.8% on the US$ 8.3 billion recorded 12 months ago. Following a pre-tax profit of US$ 71 million in 2008, the company recorded a pre-tax loss of -US$ 398 million for 2009.

In the construction division sales for 2009 fell -55.1% to US$ 952 million, down from US$ 2.1 billion 12 months ago. A statement from the company said that demand for construction equipment continued to be weak as commercial construction remained slow in North America and Western Europe.

The cranes division recorded the strongest performance of 2009, despite a -33.7% decline in sales to US$ 1.9 billion, down from US$ 2.9 billion 12 months ago. Recording a pre-tax profit of US$ 80 million, down -79.5% on the US$ 392 million reported 12 months ago, cranes was the only profitable division of the Group. A spokesperson said, "Customers continued to purchase high capacity crawler and all-terrain cranes, driven by global infrastructure and power projects.

"Lower capacity crane demand deteriorated in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008 as sales of tower cranes, rough terrain cranes and lower-capacity all-terrain cranes were impacted by continued softening in commercial construction."

Sales of US$ 838 million for the aerial work platforms division in 2009 compared to 2008 sales of US$ 2.3 billion, a decline of -64.8%. The spokesperson said, "Rental customers in the North American and European markets continued to age and reduce their fleets, deferring the purchase of new products, which had a negative impact. This was partially offset by lower material costs combined with cost reduction actions taken by Terex."

Speaking of the results, chairman and CEO Ron DeFeo said, "We just completed one of the most challenging years ever for our industry and our company. We weathered the storm and have made many changes along the way.

"While we continue to face very low levels of demand in many of our end markets, the company is beginning to recover operationally, and our strategic transformation has started with the sale of our mining business to Bucyrus."

Mr DeFeo confirmed the outlook for 2010 remained challenging for Terex, but he believes the Group's performance will improve during the year. "We have begun the process of changing our focus from cash management to growth," he said.

"Terex will introduce several new products across a range of our businesses and complete new factories in India and China that will support our business later in 2010 and beyond," continued Mr deFeo. "We expect to continue to incur operating losses in the first half of 2010, and expect to return to profitability in the second half of the year."