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Jungheinrich returns to orofitability on the back of a surge in earnings

12.05.2010

The Jungheinrich Group emerged from the economic crisis stronger than before and got off to a good start to the 2010 financial year. The first quarter of 2010 saw the world economy continue to recover.

The material handling equipment industry was among the sectors benefiting from this, displaying strong growth compared to the low market volume a year earlier. Jungheinrich’s new truck business was revived accordingly, although market expansion in Europe was moderate. The Jungheinrich Group returned to profitability in the first quarter of 2010 on the back of a surge in earnings.

The global economy continued to recover with varying degrees of dynamism from one region to the next in the first quarter of 2010. The material handling equipment sector benefited from the improved framework conditions, allowing the stabilization of the market observed in the fourth quarter of 2009 to continue in the first quarter of 2010. Worldwide demand for material handling equipment climbed 45 per cent to 175.7 thousand units (prior year: 120.9 thousand units). Asia recorded the strongest rise, advancing by 86 per cent. China made a disproportionately large contribution, gaining 113 per cent. Europe’s market volume increased by 15 per cent. Whereas Western Europe merely posted a rise of around 9 per cent, demand in Eastern Europe advanced by 52 per cent. However, this must be placed in the context of the fact that the latter market shrank by 77 per cent last year. The North American market recorded a gain of 25 per cent.

In the first quarter of 2010, the value of incoming orders encompassing all business areas advanced by 7 per cent to €433 million compared to the year-earlier volume (prior year: €405 million).

In the first quarter of 2010, net sales, which are increasingly stabilizing, slipped by 6 per cent to €387 million (prior year: €413 million). New truck business was mainly responsible for this decline in sales, experiencing a decrease of 14 per cent. This drop is due to the fact that, in the first quarter of 2009, new truck business was still benefiting from the high level of orders on hand at the end of 2008. The fall in net sales may gradually be compensated for by mounting production volume in the next few months. Combining for a decline of 1 per cent, the short-term hire and used equipment business proved to be nearly stable. Sales generated by after-sales services, which benefits from the steady rise in Jungheinrich truck market penetration, grew by 2 per cent. The foreign ratio of consolidated net sales was 73 per cent (prior year: 71 per cent).

In the first quarter of 2010, the Jungheinrich Group returned to profitability on the back of a jump in earnings, although sales were still on the decline. “Extensive measures taken to adjust personnel capacity and improve earnings taken by Jungheinrich last year in reaction to the massive shrinkage of the market and drop in demand in new truck business thus had a positive impact,” said Hans-Georg Frey, Chairman of the Board of Management of Jungheinrich AG. Operative earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose in the first quarter of 2010 to €12.0 million (prior year: -€2.8 million). The corresponding return on sales increased to 3.1 per cent (prior year: -0.7 per cent). Net income totalled €8.3 million (prior year: -€3.6 million). As a result, earnings per preferred share improved to €0.28 (prior year: -€0.08).

Based on its projections for world trade, Jungheinrich expects the world economic recovery to continue. Given the increase in demand already witnessed at the beginning of the year, it is probable that the world market will grow by about 20 per cent to significantly more than 650 thousand forklift trucks. As the year progresses, Jungheinrich’s business trend will be marked by consolidation, growth and earnings improvements. On the basis of its conservative assessment, the company expects to post a slight increase in incoming orders to some €1.7 billion and consolidated net sales to over €1.7 billion. Based on this and taking account of ongoing consolidation measures, the Jungheinrich Group should achieve an operating result in low to medium-range double-digit million euro territory for 2010.

Jungheinrich ranks among the world’s leading companies in the material handling equipment, warehousing and material flow engineering sectors. The company is a service provider with manufacturing operations as well as an intralogistics solution provider, which offers its customers a comprehensive range of forklift trucks, shelving systems, services and consulting. Jungheinrich shares are traded on all German stock exchanges.

Please address press-related inquiries to:
Jungheinrich AG; Markus Piazza, Head of Corporate Communications
Phone: +49-40-6948-1550, Fax: +49-40-6948-1599, markus.piazza@jungheinrich.de
www.jungheinrich.com

 



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