Cargotec has reported an all-time record operating profit in its half-year financial report to the end of June 2022.

Profits rose 23% to EUR86 million (USD89.5 million) in the April to June quarter, despite ongoing supply chain challenges and market uncertainty.

CEO Mika Vehviläinen describes the second quarter as successful for Cargotec. 

“Our personnel did an excellent job in a challenging operating environment, making our good performance possible. Our orders received, order book and comparable operating profit reached all-time records. Also, our sales grew significantly compared to the comparison period,” he says.

Despite the cost level increases, Cargotec’s margins have remained at a good level which demonstrates “business agility and effective pricing”. 

“We again made price increases required by the market situation during the second quarter and continue to monitor the situation. The success was particularly prominent at Hiab, which reached record high sales and comparable operating profit in the second quarter.” 

The CEO notes that R&D investments increased by over 10% in the last quarter. The company also launched several new eco-efficient products during the quarter and, in response to the logistics industry’s growing demand for electric solutions, invested in expanding the Kalmar manufacturing plant in Kansas, USA. 

The service business growth continued as well with sales up by 13% and orders received by 9%. In the second quarter, service sales constituted 32% of the group’s total sales.

“Our starting position for the latter half of the year is good,” says Vehviläinen. “Even though market forecasts have been cut during the quarter, our markets are still estimated to grow. Despite the surrounding uncertainty, we enter the second half of the year in a good position with a strong balance sheet and a record order backlog. 

“The supply chain challenges are expected to continue also during the second half of the year. In Cargotec’s business, the third quarter is typically less active than the second quarter. We also anticipate the third-quarter sales mix to be slightly weaker than in the second quarter.”