Mika Vehviläinen

Cargotec has ended its third quarter with strong orders, rising 23% to EUR921 million (USD1.041 billion). "Orders received grew in all of our business areas. The development was especially favourable in Kalmar, where the orders received were 38 percent higher than in the comparison period," says Cargotec's CEO Mika Vehviläinen.

"Our development continued to be strong in terms of orders received during the third quarter of 2018. Also, our sales grew in all business areas, supported by the good order intake.

"Cargotec's third quarter operating profit excluding restructuring costs remained at the comparison period's level, despite Hiab's operating profit declining by almost one third," he adds.

The company attributes Hiab's profit decline to the weakening of the US dollar compared to the Euro, product mix, additional costs related to supply chain and to investments in sales and service capabilities and digitalisation.

During the third quarter, Hiab entered into an agreement to acquire the Effer loader cranes business. Founded in 1965, Effer has over 50 years' experience in developing and manufacturing knuckle-boom cranes. "With the acquisition of Effer, Hiab will complement its loader cranes portfolio and expand its range of heavy cranes, in particular in the over 100 T segment, in which Effer is recognised as a global leader," Vehviläinen explains.

Other developments in the last quarter include the appointment of Scott Phillips as president of Hiab and a member of the Cargotec executive board.

Vehviläinen notes that in September, Cargotec announced a refined strategy for 2019-2021. "Together with our business areas, we will continue to work towards our vision (of) 'Becoming the global leader in intelligent cargo handling'. As customer needs change, we will focus even more on the total lifecycle and comprehensive solutions.

"Our strategy will ensure profitable growth by focusing on customer centricity, services, digitalisation and productivity.

"Kalmar, Hiab and MacGregor share Cargotec's must-win battles, while also having their own specific focus areas," he says, confirming that the company is committed to achieving the financial targets announced in 2017.