Young An Hat Company subsidiary Clark Europe GmbH has recorded a loss for the first time as a result of lowered demand for forklifts.

Company CEO Egon Strehl told Logistiek.nl that although the company has recorded a pre-tax loss of over EUR200,000 (USD291,225), he predicts the forklift market will recover next year and the company can expect a 33% rise in sales and a EUR850,000 (USD1,238,182) profit in 2010.

Strehl added that despite 2009 being a loss-making year so far, Clark Europe had actually increased its marketshare "by a few percentage points".

"We have achieved this by opening new sales channels in regions where we used to be less active," he explained, referring to so-called 'white spots' (elsewhere known as 'black spots') in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Clark Europe aims to continue increasing its marketshare in 2010 by attracting new dealers and putting its sales representatives and dealers through a four-week training program at the Clark Academy.

In September, Forkliftaction.com News reported the opening of Clark Europe's first dealer support centre in Lyon, France. At that time, Egon Strehl told Forkliftaction.com News that the company was considering hiring new employees to position itself for post-recession growth. He also said Clark Europe had been able to face the global economic downturn relatively well through internal measures and adjustments (Forkliftaction.com News #428).