BT Industries has reported its highest-ever sales and income figures.

Sales rose 15 per cent to SEK13.2 billion, and net income rose eight per cent to SEK888 million in 2001. The company expects decreased demand this year, but said it was confident of long-term growth in the industry.

BT said an order backlog from 2000 boosted its balance sheet as the European and US markets dipped, the latter by 25 per cent.

Last year BT halved the acceleration and deceleration times on its Powerdrive system and its Orion pallet handlers performed well globally. BT also reconfigured the pedals of its Reflex AC reach stacker to duplicate those of a normal car.

BT was acquired by Toyoda Automatic Loom Works in July 2000. BT imports Toyota materials handling products in Scandinavia, and BT is distributed in Japan. BT took over Raymond, the US market leader for warehouse trucks, in the mid 1990s, and bought niche Italian forklift maker Cesab in 2000. BT is an exhibitor at CeMAT in Hannover next month.