Rocla Oyj has released its first quarter results, revealing net sales grew 14% over the same period last year, rising from EUR19.2 million (USD23.4 million) to EUR21.8 million (USD26.5 million).

Development in the automated guided vehicles (AGV) and industrial truck markets "remained modest", the company said in a statement. In the industrial trucks business, new products for new markets and sales efforts by dealers formed the platform for favourable overall development in the first quarter.

Exports and international operations accounted for 76% of Rocla's consolidated net sales, up from 71% in the first quarter of 2003. Industrial trucks accounted for 85% of total sales, up from 81%, and AGVs fell to 15%, from 19% last year.

Rocla said "solid performance" by distributors, and the Orion truck family, developed for the American market with Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift, boosted deliveries.

"In the fiscal year 2003, earnings by quarter kept improving throughout the year. This trend continued and picked up momentum in the first quarter of 2004," the company said.

"The improvement of results is a combined result of active sales efforts, long-range cooperation with strategic business partners and cost efficiency boosting rationalisation and savings programs.

"The fiscal period 2004 is expected to turn out clearly better than the previous one, both in terms of net sales and results."