"Janus-faced" year for Cargotec
The Finland-based Cargotec group expects its 2019 operating profit to improve vis-a-vis 2018 (EUR 242.1 million). The company said 2018 was somewhat of a “Janus-faced” year.
While order numbers rose in all business areas, the company was unable to achieve its financial targets. Kalmar's operating profit improved thanks to measures that improved productivity, but the weaker results for Hiab and MacGregor led to a lower operating profit at group level compared to 2017.
Although the demand for Hiab's equipment and services continued to grow, its operating profit declined in 2018. This was primarily because the US dollar weakened against the euro, and also due to challenges with the supply chain and related additional costs.
MacGregor's market environment still proved challenging last year, which led to a lower sales and operating profit, excluding restructuring costs. (kd)