For the group, orders received fell from just over EUR1bn to EUR471m, its order book dropped from EUR3.36bn to EUR2.55bn, sales were down from EUR901m to EUR678m and operating profit excluding restructuring costs was down from EUR63.1m to EUR3m. Including EUR13.1m of restructuring costs, operating profit tumbled to a loss of EUR10m.
For Hiab, orders received fell from EUR238m to EUR130m, its order book dropped from EUR238m to EUR138m, sales were down from EUR253m to EUR139m and operating profit (excluding restructuring costs) fell from EUR18.5m to a loss of EUR11.9m.
At Kalmar, orders received were down from EUR363m to EUR187m, its order book value was down from EUR790m to EUR514m, sales fell from EUR396m to EUR282m and operating profit (excluding restructuring costs) dropped from EUR32.3m to EUR5.6m.
MacGregor saw orders received down from EUR415m to EUR155m and its order book down from EUR2.33bn to EUR1.9bn. However, sales were up by EUR3m to EUR257m and operating profit climbed from EUR21.9m to 23.3m. Cargotec said the growth in sales was attributable to strong order intake in previous years.
Cargotec said the year-to-date had seen its operating environments continue to suffer from the global economic downturn. A fall in construction volumes and new truck sales has impacted Hiab’s market sector, with customers continuing to defer investment decisions as their fleets remain under utilised.
Investments at ports are also under scrutiny as the number of containers being handled falls, and thus demand for Kalmar’s container handling equipment has fallen.
Cargotec said the market for MacGregor’s marine cargo handling equipment has contracted sharply following the end of the shipbuilding boom. This has seen idling of vessels due to overcapacity in the market, increased scrapping and more ships used for storage. However, it said, a slight rise in crude oil prices towards the end of the second quarter reflected positively on the offshore equipment markets.
A full review of the latest company results, including Terex, Manitowoc and others, will appear in the August edition of Cranes Today. </b>