02.02.2009

Hiab down Kalmar up

Cargotec, owner of Hiab loader cranes and Kalmar reach stackers and port cranes has reported a mixed set of results with sales at Hiab for the full year down three percent to €907 million, this in spite of having made four acquisitions during the year, adding distribution businesses in New Zealand, South Africa and tail lift companies in the USA and UK.

Order in take was down 17 percent to €818 million cutting the company’s order book by almost €100 million to €164 million.

Operating income at the loader crane manufacturer was €49.4 million, this before taking a charge of over €14 million for restructuring costs. Last year operating income was €73.8 million.

Kalmar on the other hand fared better with sales up 13 percent to €1.52 billion on order intake up just 10 percent to €1.57 billion. Operating income however was down 15 percent to €89.6 million and this before charges of €4.5 million for restructuring and an €18 million container spreader recall programme.

The group as a whole, which includes MacGregor, saw revenues climb by 13 percent to €3.4 billion while pre-tax profits collapsed to just €3.4 million, compared to €39.7 million last year.

Vertikal Comment

Cargotec has a good range of businesses with Mac Gregor performing very well, Kalmar doing well on the revenue side but very poorly in terms of profitability. Hiab on the other hand is still recovering from the damage done in the Partek days.

The company has a great brand and some excellent products, but also has some very challenging competitors in the guise of Palfinger which has been firing on all cylinders these past few years and Fassi which has been trying harder.

If the company can keep its nerve and build its sales, distribution and marketing efforts while streamlining its manufacturing and management structure it could find that the recession is a change to recapture some lost ground.

Quite a few Ifs in that statement though.