Vehviläinen

Cargotec has released its 2019 full-year financial report, noting that the year was characterised by uncertainty. "Things that caused concern within the industry include items like the US-China trading dispute, Brexit, and the economic and regulatory uncertainty that impacted the maritime industry, and MacGregor customers in particular," says CEO Mika Vehviläinen. "Some challenges from 2019 may carry over to 2020. However, I feel we are well prepared for this year. Our strong order book and the expected benefits of the TTS integration, for example, give us solid tools to realise our promises in 2020," he adds. For the 2019 year, Cargotec reported 8% growth in services revenue, a 15% rise in software sales and strong activity in the automation area. Kalmar's profit increased by 13% and Hiab's by 27%, but "MacGregor's challenging situation continues". Vehviläinen notes cost overruns in certain offshore projects, low capacity utilisation, and lower sales margins leading to a negative result for MacGregor. "Sluggishness in the MacGregor market has now continued for about six years and has not yet shown any clear signs of recovery. Our streamlining actions in MacGregor will continue in 2020." On the positive side, Vehviläinen notes the completion of the TTS acquisition which "will ultimately make MacGregor stronger and support its ambition to restore its profitability in the future". Looking to the group's prospects for 2020, the CEO is predicting a rise in profits, but he is aware that Cargotec needs to be "prepared and agile". "We must prepare scenarios for any changes that the market may put before us during the year. We face this task with confidence and proceed with determination into 2020."