The construction equipment industry is in rude health, following positive financial results recorded by Volvo, Liebherr and Manitou.
Improved market conditions saw sales at Volvo increase by 30% in the Q1 2017. The Swedish construction firm also saw order intakes rise by 34% to 17,487 machines with growth in all markets recorded but particularly positive in China and Europe.
Volvo Construction Equipment’s president, Martin Weissburg, said, “After years of tough market conditions, the Volvo CE business is growing again. Volvo CE is on the right track, the improvement plan is yielding results, and there are further opportunities to improve the long-term competitiveness of the company.”
Sales for Manitou rose by 22% to 380m (US$413.9m) over the same period, with order intakes also increasing by 126m (US$137.2m).
Michel Denis, president and CEO of Manitou, said, “Our activity in the first quarter reflects both the improvement of the performance of Manitou, the recovery of most of our markets, as well as the effects of the scheduled termination of the law on accelerated depreciation of investments in France.
“The excellent start to the year with a very strong seasonality as well as the size of our order book lead us to raise our anticipation for 2017 with now a growth in sales revenues of 7% to 10% and an improved recurring operating income of 50 to 70 basis points relative to 2016.”
Posting results for the 2016 accounts, Liebherr recorded turnover of 9,009m (US$9,813m) in the 12 month period the third highest in the company’s history. The figures are 2.5% down on its record 2015 and there were marked differences in business performance across the various regions.
Western Europe saw turnover increase, due in part to renewed growth in its largest market, Germany, as well as in France and the Netherlands, but declined slightly in the UK. Eastern Europe was also a region of positive growth, while the Middle East remained at the same level as the previous year and turnover in Africa and the Far East decreased.
April 28, 2017
