The Liebherr group of companies saw total turnover rise 9.8% to SFr5.48bn ($3.2bn) in 1999, its 50th anniversary year. Net income for the group was up 47% to SFr197m ($116m).
Revenue from mobile and tower crane sales rose 14% to SFr1.56bn ($920m). Revenue from ship, offshore, container and mobile dockside cranes rose 15.9% to SFr311m ($183m).
The figures are revealed in the 1999 annual report, published last month, of Swiss holding company Liebherr-International. The company says that 1999 was marked by a significant increase in demand for mobile cranes and a recovery in the tower crane market “which resulted in a substantial growth in turnover.
Joint owners Willi Liebherr and Isolde Wagishauser, son and daughter of founder Hans Liebherr, said that they expect further growth this year. “After a dynamic start we are optimistic about the 2000 business year in every respect. Turnover, profit, investment and the number of employees will continue to grow,” they said.
Sales of mobile and crawler cranes produced at Liebherr-Werk Ehingen were up 7% in the first six months of 2000.
The Ehingen operation is investing DM100m ($50m) on improvements to various mobile crane service centres around the world. New workshops are being built in France and England, and facilities in Spain and Holland are being extended to double their size.
Liebherr has also set up a wholly owned subsidiary in China – Shanghai Liebherr Machinery – which also has a new workshop.
This spending is in addition to the DM100m being spent on a new production hall at the Ehingen factory in Germany to increase capacity by 40%.
