KONECRANES PLC - KONECRANES PLC'S ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ON MARCH 27, 2014: PRESIDENT AND CEO PEKKA LUNDMARK COMMENTS ON THE FIRST QUARTER AND KEY STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
The Annual General Meeting of Konecranes Plc is being held today, Thursday March 27, 2014, starting at 10 am Finnish time in Hyvinkää, Finland. In his presentation, Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO, summarizes the year 2013 and comments on the market situation as well as the first quarter of 2014 as follows:
"Market conditions in January-February 2014 have been fairly unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2013. Service orders have grown somewhat, while equipment orders have been roughly on the same level as in the fourth quarter of 2013. The order book at year-end 2013 was below the previous year, which will, as earlier communicated, have a negative effect on the company’s sales and operating profit in the beginning of the year.
Due to the unrest in Ukraine, we have taken measures to mitigate the operational risks related to our crane factory in the city of Zaporozhye. Currently, we expect the transfers of production and depreciation of the Ukranian Hryvna to affect the 2014 operating profit by approximately EUR 6 million of which approximately EUR 3 million is expected to be booked as unrealized currency losses in the first quarter.”
Mr. Lundmark also outlines Konecranes’ strategy, with the main focus on the three strategic initiatives:
“Our first strategic initiative, “Industrial Internet”, makes machines intelligent and aware of their condition, and networks them to create real-time visibility for enhanced safety and productivity. This unique service that we offer our customers differentiates us from our competitors and warrants a price premium. We launched our TRUCONNECT® Remote Services product family in several countries in 2013. We have now remote connections to thousands of items of equipment.
As for our second strategic initiative, “Emerging Markets Offering”, we develop ‘mid-market’ products with high quality but lower price points, and strengthen our position in emerging markets. We have several product types in design and testing phase. The first product launches will be in the near future.
In terms of our third strategic initiative, “oneKONECRANES”, we streamline our way of working and modernize our information systems to boost productivity and lower our cost level. We have already taken new global systems and processes related to customer relationship management and human resources in use. The new enterprise resource planning systems and harmonized processes for both business area currently cover close to 20 percent of the Group sales. It will still take approximately two years before most of our business volume is covered by these new systems ”
The financial guidance issued on February 5, 2014 is reiterated:
The order book at year-end 2013 was below the previous year, which will affect the company’s sales and operating profit in the beginning of the year. Due to the market uncertainty, it is too early to estimate the full-year 2014 sales development. The ongoing restructuring actions and improving project execution are expected to have a positive impact on profitability.
The presentation material will also be available on the company website at www.konecranes.com after the closing of the AGM.
KONECRANES PLC
Miikka Kinnunen
Director, Investor Relations
FURTHER INFORMATION
Analysts and Investors:
Miikka Kinnunen, Director, Investor Relations, Konecranes Plc,
tel. +358 20 427 2050
Press:
Mikael Wegmüller, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Konecranes Plc, tel. +358 20 427 2008
Konecranes is a world-leading group of Lifting Businesses™, serving a broad range of customers, including manufacturing and process industries, shipyards, ports, and terminals. Konecranes provides productivity-enhancing lifting solutions as well as services for lifting equipment and machine tools of all makes. In 2013, Group sales totaled EUR 2,100 million. The Group has 11,800 employees, at 600 locations in 48 countries. Konecranes is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki (symbol: KCR1V).
DISTRIBUTION
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Major media
www.konecranes.com