Finnish materials handling equipment maker Konecranes reports net sales for Q1 2026 were down 7.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) to EUR907.9 million (USD1.06 billion), but is maintaining its outlook for stable sales for the year.

Releasing its Q1 financial results, Konecranes reports order intake for Q1 increased marginally (0.3% y-o-y) to EUR1.07 billion (USD1.25 billion), while operating profit dropped 4.4% to be EUR95.6 million (USD1.12 billion).

CEO Marko Tulokas says the start of the year was “framed by geopolitical uncertainty and towards the end of the quarter by the conflict in the Middle East”.

“Despite the turbulence in the operating environment, the Konecranes team managed the situation well and delivered solid results in the first quarter,” Tulokas continues. 

“Our order intake held at a good level regardless of the increased uncertainty around customer demand, and profitability strengthened with our comparable EBITA margin reaching 11.6%. This was a good achievement under challenging project delivery conditions and lower sales volumes.

“In the first quarter, our net sales amounted to EUR908 million (USD1.06 billion), decreasing by 4.8% in comparable currencies versus a year ago. This reflects both typical seasonality – the first quarter is usually the lowest delivery quarter of the year – as well as the timing of deliveries. 

“Also, the situation in the Middle East impacted some of our customer deliveries and raised fuel and freight costs. Looking at the regional split, our net sales decreased in all three regions.”

Tulokas says the company’s sales funnels have continued to be at a good level, despite the increased volatility and related uncertainty around customer demand. 

“Looking ahead, we expect our demand environment to remain on a healthy level within our industrial customers,” he adds. “For our port customers, container throughput continues to be on a high level, and the long-term prospects for container handling remain good. However, uncertainty related to geopolitics and trade policy tensions remains high.

“We reiterate our financial guidance for year 2026. We expect our net sales to remain approximately on the same level or to increase in 2026 compared to 2025, and our comparable EBITA margin to remain approximately on the same level in 2026 compared to 2025.”