BT Industries, January-March 2001

BT Industries, January-March 2001 Strong first quarter, weaker U.S. market Orders received rose 9%: SEK 3,108 m. (SEK 2,855 m.) Invoiced sales rose 27%: SEK 3,200 m. (SEK 2,517 m.) Income after net financial items + 43%: SEK 226 m. (SEK 158 m.) Mixed picture The global market for warehouse trucks reported very mixed development during the first quarter of 2001. The North American market declined by around 30% compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The Western European market, on the other hand, continued to develop positively. Markets outside Western Europe and North America noted a great deal of variation, but on the whole developed positively. Strong sales and good result BT's orders received during the quarter amounted to SEK 3,108 m. (SEK 2,855 m.), an increase of 9% compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The most substantial increase was in Western Europe, the result of good demand for the company's warehouse trucks, though also an effect of Italy's CESAB, which was acquired during the second quarter of 2000. Orders declined in North America, but noted a good increase in other markets. Thanks to a high order backlog at the beginning of the year and increased delivery capacity, net sales rose to SEK 3,200 m. (SEK 2,517 m.), an increase of 27% compared with the first quarter of 2000. The highest sales increase was in counterbalanced trucks (+81%), followed by warehouse trucks (+23%) and spare parts (+24%). Income after net financial items amounted to SEK 226 m. (SEK 158 m.), an increase of 43% compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Net income after estimated tax corresponded to earnings per share of SEK 4.85, compared with SEK 3.30 for the corresponding period of 2000. "We are closely following developments in North America. We can possibly see signs of a stabilization, but at this point there is still uncertainty about the market's development looking forward," says President and CEO Carl-Erik Ridderstråle. "As of yet we haven't seen this spread to business area BT EUROPE, which continues to develop positively. We are also pleased with the income trend and improved operating margins in all our business areas." Competitive organization During the spring BT's owner, Toyota, realigned its organization. Among other things, all production and sales of Toyota counterbalanced trucks have been merged in a sister company of BT under the name Toyota Material Handling. This means that BT will continue to focus, with its own brand and its own distribution channels, on logistics-intensive customers in consumer goods distribution, among other things. At the same time, the new organizational structure means that the companies can share their experience and jointly conduct projects in technology, purchasing, production, etc., in order to strengthen the group's overall competitiveness. One direct result of the cooperation is a new series of counterbalanced trucks launched in Scandinavia and the UK during the spring, which has attracted great interest. For questions and further information, please contact CEO Carl-Erik Ridderstråle (tel. +46 142 832 13) or CEO Per Zaunders (+46 142 860 32). For general questions, contact PR Manager Göran Skoglund at +46 142 86409 or +46 70 555 92 88. The report and other press material are available on BT Industries' home page: www.bt-industries.com. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/05/18/20010518BIT00120/bit0002.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/05/18/20010518BIT00120/bit0002.pdf