Terex to focus on construction profits

Terex is to focus on restoring profitability to its construction division after the business attracted little interest from potential buyers.

Chairman and CEO Ron DeFeo said, "The construction unit includes some of our weakest product lines. With third quarter sales down -56% on the same period last year and an operating loss of - US$ 59 million, construction is our biggest drain."

Speaking at the Citi Investment Research conference, Mr DeFeo said, "It is going to be difficult in 2010 to get the construction business to break even. There are no real strategic alternatives at the moment," he said. "Frankly, our first priority now is to fix the business ourselves."

Mr DeFeo confirmed the company is trying to lower costs through employee cuts. He is also confident that some parts of the unit, including compact equipment, will start to recover slowly next year.