04.02.2022

Solid year for Hiab

Cargotec, owner of Hiab and Kalmar has published its results for 2021.

Hiab sales for the 12 months increased 14 percent to €1.25 billion, while order intake jumped 42 percent to €1.71 billion, taking the order book to €985 million, almost double the level at the end of 2020. Operating profit for the year was €145 million a 49 percent improvement on the year.
Fourth quarter revenues 15 percent higher at €339 million, although order intake dropped eight percent to €384 million, but operating profit was 36 percent higher at €34 million.

Kalmar achieved sales for the 12 months up to the end of December, of €1.51 billion down one percent on the year. Order intake though jumped 47 percent to €2.1 billion, leaving the order book at the end of the year at €1.3 billion an increase of 55 percent. Fourth quarter revenues improved five percent to €430 million, with orders of €513 million up 15 percent on the same period in 2020. Operating profit was €32.6 million a 68 percent increase.

Parent company Cargotec saw revenues rise just over one percent due to another poor performance from MacGregor and the sale of Navis. Pre-tax profits though increased 10 fold to €333.1 million largely thanks to a one off gain from the Navis disposal. Net debt at the end of December was €414 million a reduction of 39 percent.

Chief executive Mika Vehviläinen said: “2021 saw an improving market situation and increasing economic activity boosted our orders received to a record level, and our main demand drivers - number of containers handled at ports globally, construction activity, new vessel contracting - grew significantly. However, as the year progressed, component shortages and global logistics challenges proved to be more difficult than what we had estimated, causing delays to our deliveries. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, market predictability was exceptionally challenging.”

“Orders received increased by 42 percent compared to the comparison period. The order increase was particularly noticeable in Hiab and Kalmar’s mobile equipment, but also the project business orders increased clearly both in Kalmar and in MacGregor. Our order book grew by 56 percent and, as an example, Hiab’s order book nearly doubled when compared to the previous year. Strong demand and extended short-cycle product delivery times affected the growth of our order book.”

“Despite the strong demand, our sales increased by only two percent due to lower project deliveries in Kalmar and MacGregor as well as the sale of the Navis business. In addition, component shortages and global logistics challenges limited growth in Hiab and in Kalmar mobile equipment. We estimate these factors to have affected our sales by approximately €80 million during the fourth quarter. We work in close cooperation with our suppliers to ensure component availability but estimate that component and logistics challenges to continue in 2022.”

Vertikal Comment

This is a good overall result from both Hiab and Kalmar, although the supply chain challenges are clearly visible especially in the fourth quarter. Cargotec is almost certainly absorbed with the pending merger with Konecranes which must be putting a brake on long-term planning or dealing with some of the issues it is facing with MacGregor?
Hiab started the year with an order book equivalent to almost 80 percent of 2021 revenues, and its highly likely that the backlog is close to 12 months, long lead times are normally a brake on order intake as buyers seek alternative suppliers, however it is likely that the other manufacturers such as Palfinger, Fassi and others are in the same boat?

All in all, a very positive set of numbers.