Eastern Europe leads for Liebherr
12 July 2012In its latest report, privately-owned Liebherr says it is seeing its fastest growth in Eastern Europe. A new tower crane factory in Russia is helping it meet that demand.
While mobile crane sales are struggling, other divisions are taking up the slack. For example, Liebherr's maritime cranes division increased turnover by €78.4m, or 10.7%, from 2010 to 2011. Liebherr said mobile cranes turnover of €1,738.6m had dropped a little, or 4% from the pervious year, falling by €73.2m in 2011.
Leibherr nonetheless saw signs of growth coming from emerging markets, and it noted that industrial companies were stabilising in the wake of the financial crisis.
For all of its segments, turnover grew most substantially in Eastern Europe, rising 42.3% or €269.4m, and bringing in revenue of €906.9m for the region. Liebherr's new tower crane factory in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, established in mid-2011, shows the impact this region is having on its profits, as it moves to increase tower crane availability and decrease costs for the user. The facility will also produce earthmoving equipment and products for aerospace.
Buoying sales and service in the central European region, Liebherr has investment projects in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is also investing in Australia.
Its next fastest growing market was Africa, where turnover rose 34.4 %, to €470.5m in 2011, or an increase of €120.5m, although it noted that this figure was a decrease in the previous year.
In the Americas, sales revenues rose by 20.7%, or €232.9m, to €1,360m.
Sales revenues from the Near and Middle East have dropped 34.4%. Liebherr recorded a reduction in sales in the Middle East explaining that this due to the completion of a large-scale project in Saudi Arabia.
Turnover rose in Leibherr's Far East/Australia region, up by €165.7m or 12.5 % to €1,490.7m; the company noted they had risen more in 2010.
Western Europe's sales changed less dramatically, with overall turnover within the region growing by 3.5 %.
Considering the lingering effects of the 2008 financial crisis, construction cranes and mixing technology segments are now recovering, the company says, with the combined construction cranes and mixing technology segment bringing turnover of €577.2m, up 11.1% or €57.5m.
Taken together, the company's construction machinery and mining segments have begun to shine, boosting turnover by €642.4m or 13.5%, bringing in revenues of €5,386.6m.
