13.08.2024
Down time for Hiab
Loader crane and handling company Hiab, has reported a slow second quarter with lower sales, order intake and profits.
Hiab First Half
Total revenues:
Revenues for the six months to the end of June dropped eight percent to €847 million, driven by delayed decision making on capital expenditure in some regions, plus a comparison with a record first half last year.
Order intake
Order intake for the six months was three percent lower at €734 million, leaving the order book at €676 million, down 15 percent on this time last year, but not out of line with long term trends. Leaving the
order book/backlog 15 percent lower at €676 million.
Operating profit came in four percent lower at €137.4 million, due to the lower sales revenue.
Second quarter
Second quarter revenues dropped 11 percent to €433 million, for the same reasons mentioned above. Order intake was seven percent lower at €348 million. With an operating profit of €68.8 million down 16 percent on the same quarter last year.
Cargotec half year
Overall revenues for Cargotec as a whole, which also includes MacGregor, were roughly flat at €1.24 billion, but pre-tax profits improved nine percent to €119.7 million.
Net debt The group maintained its substantial reductions in net debt, cutting it from €507 million this time last year to just €18 million and down from €57 million at the end of last quarter.
Cargotec chief executive Casimir Lindholm said: “The second quarter of 2024 was another operationally solid one for Cargotec. We have now six quarters in a row with good and stable results. The market environment remained mixed as high interest rates and uncertainty in some of Hiab’s key geographies and industries continued to delay customer decision making. On the other hand, MacGregor continued to benefit from the strong ship building cycle. During the quarter, we achieved two major milestones in reshaping Cargotec. We completed the partial demerger on 30 June with Kalmar listing starting on Nasdaq Helsinki on 1 July, and we started the sales process of MacGregor in May.”
“In Hiab, delayed decision making continued to impact customers’ ordering behaviour whereas the order book collected in the past couple of years still supported Hiab’s sales. Hiab’s sales decreased from a record breaking comparison period, but service sales continue to increase and amounted to €115 million, representing 27% of Hiab’s sales. Despite lower sales, Hiab’s profitability remained on a good level and the comparable operating profit amounted to EUR 69 million, corresponding to 15.9 percent of sales.”
Vertikal Comment
This is a reasonable result from Hiab, as its parent company goes through a major transformation which must inevitably have some impact on the business as it transforms from a subsidiary to a publicly quoted standalone crane and material handling manufacturing business.
The increased focus on non-machine sales will serve it well in the years ahead, as the focus moves increasingly towards sustaining equipment rather than scrapping and replacement. It will though depend on how well it executes the plan at a local level and avoids turning itself into a mini centralised conglomerate, but rather provides the tools and entrepreneurial local managers that allow the local businesses to flourish.
All in all, the future looks bright for Hiab, in spite of it hitting the doldrums in the first half.
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