According to the preliminary figures, Konecranes’ third quarter 2013 order intake was approximately EUR 413 million, down 10 percent year-on-year. Approximately one-half or almost 5 percentage points of the order intake decline was explained by negative currency changes. Sales were approximately EUR 503 million and operating profit excluding restructuring costs approximately EUR 32 million. The operating margin excluding restructuring costs was approximately 6.4 percent, the Company said in a press release.
Both the cost base and the operating margin developed as expected in the third quarter of 2013. Group’s efficiency improvement program to lower the annual cost base by EUR 30 million by the end of 2014 is proceeding as planned.
Konecranes expects the positive margin development to continue and fourth quarter 2013 operating profit to improve from the previous year. However, due to the weaker than expected order intake and unfavourable currency development in the third quarter, Konecranes no longer expects to meet the earlier financial guidance for 2013.
The new financial guidance is:
“Based on the order book and the near-term demand outlook, the year 2013 sales are expected to be slightly lower than in 2012. We expect the fourth quarter 2013 operating profit excluding restructuring costs to improve from the previous year. However, we expect the full-year 2013 operating profit excluding restructuring costs to be lower than in 2012.”
Konecranes is a world-leading group of Lifting Businesses™, serving a broad range of customers, including manufacturing and process industries, shipyards, ports and terminals. Konecranes provides productivity-enhancing lifting solutions as well as services for lifting equipment and machine tools of all makes. In 2012, Group sales totaled EUR 2,170 million. The Group has 11,900 employees at 626 locations in 48 countries. Konecranes is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki