20.07.2016

Profit boost for Hiab

Hiab has reported a strong increase in half year profits on a solid rise in revenues.

Total revenues for the first half were 18 percent higher at €529 million, with order intake rising eight percent to €514 million. Operating profit for the period was 66 percent higher at €74.2 million.

Revenues in the second quarter were 19 percent higher at €283 million, on order intake up eight percent at €239 million. Operating profits for the quarter were €41.7 million 64 percent higher than the same time last year.

Revenues at sister company Kalmar were flat for the first quarter at €787 million, while order intake slipped one percent to €892 million. Operating profits were very marginally lower at €57.5 million.

In the second quarter Kalmar revenues improved seven percent to €420 million, while order intake fell three percent to €438 million. Operating profits improved 12 percent to €31.9 million.

Total revenues at parent company Cargotec were five percent lower at € 1.73 billion, due to lower sales at MacGregor. Pre-tax profits were over 15 percent higher at €108.3 million.

Chief executive Mika Vehviläinen said: Our business developed favourably during the second quarter. Orders for Kalmar decreased slightly from the comparison period’s level, while Hiab’s order intake grew eight percent from the comparison period. It was pleasing to see service orders increase 12 percent compared to the comparison period. Profitability continued to improve in Kalmar and Hiab compared to the previous year. On the other hand, the market situation in MacGregor remained challenging. At MacGregor we have already begun implementing new measures to lower our cost level through actions taken primarily in Norway as well as by merging two divisions”.

“The execution of our strategy published at the end of 2015 is proceeding in all three focus areas: services, digitalisation and leadership development. Business areas have continued their service development efforts during the quarter, and we have increased resources for digitalisation initiatives. For example, we launched the first products based on our common Cargotec IoT Cloud, a shared connectivity and analytics platform for all our businesses, through which we can provide more efficient analytics to our customers based on equipment data. The Interschalt integration is proceeding as planned and we are getting positive customer feedback about the combined offering of Xvela’s maritime industry software and the Interschalt software. Our internal leadership development programme was launched during the last quarter and has gone forward according to plans”.

Vertikal Comment

Apart from Hiab - revenue growth at Cargotec has been weak to non existent, but recent changes and efficiency improvements have clearly benefited the bottom line, and placed the company in a strong position, particularly with Hiab, where the loader crane manufacturer seems to be experiencing one of its most positive periods in a decade or more. Changes and improvements are still being made which bides well for the year as a whole.