07.02.2013

Tadano jumps 25%

Japanese crane and access manufacturer Tadano has reported sales up 25.5 percent to ¥94.1 billion ($642.4 million) for the nine months to the end of December.

Meanwhile net profits for the period were ¥4.98 billion ($34 million) compared to a loss in the same period last year of ¥1.27 billion ($13.6 million), thanks says the company to strong efforts on improving pricing.

The company said that in spite of a clear slowdown, positive trends, such as rising stock prices, a falling yen and hopes for action by the new Japanese government, all point to brighter prospects for the Japanese economy.

It adds that buyers in Japan continued to make equipment purchases to replace aging equipment, while demand overseas grew in the North American, Asian, and Australian markets, driven primarily by energy and infrastructure development.

Domestic sales were ¥45.9 billion ($491.4 million) up 21.4 percent last year, driven by growth in sales of mobile cranes, loader cranes, and aerial work platforms. Exports grew by 29.8 percent to ¥48,220 billion ($516.3 million), representing 51.2 percent of all revenues.

Vertikal Comment

This is a decent report from Tadano, which continues to benefit from economic improvements and more buoyant markets in some key markets where is relatively strong, including its home market of course, but also North America and Australia.

It still has enormous potential to increase its market penetration, in most regions outside of Japan. To do so requires a greater investment in its distribution and marketing efforts, possibly coupled with greater production capacity for certain models as markets pick up.