KONECRANES PLC: FULL-YEAR SALES AND OPERATING PROFIT GREW

KONECRANES PLC FINANCIAL STATEMENTS BULLETIN January 31, 2013 at 9:00 a.m.

Figures in brackets, unless otherwise stated, refer to the same period a year earlier.

FOURTH QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

- Order intake EUR 423.8 million (473.9), -10.6 percent: Service -1.1 percent and Equipment -14.7 percent.
- Order book EUR 942.7 million (991.8) at year-end, -4.9 percent compared with a year before.
- Sales EUR 605.1 million (598.2), +1.2 percent: Service +1.8 percent and Equipment +1.8 percent.
- Operating profit before restructuring costs EUR 42.2 million (47.5), 7.0 percent (7.9) of sales.
- Restructuring costs EUR 5.8 million (10.3).
- Operating profit including restructuring costs EUR 36.4 million (37.2), 6.0 percent of sales (6.2).
- Earnings per share (diluted) EUR 0.39 (0.39).
- Net cash flow from operating activities EUR 84.9 million (10.4).
- Net debt EUR 181.8 million (219.8) and gearing 39.5 percent (50.5).

FULL YEAR 2012 HIGHLIGHTS

- Orders received EUR 1,970.1 million (1,896.1), +3.9 percent: Service +5.8 percent and Equipment +3.8 percent.
- Sales EUR 2,170.2 million (1,896.4), +14.4 percent: Service +11.0 percent and Equipment +17.5 percent.
- Operating profit before restructuring costs EUR 137.9 million (117.2), 6.4 percent (6.2) of sales, +17.7 percent.
- Restructuring costs EUR 5.8 million (10.3).
- Operating profit including restructuring costs EUR 132.1 million (106.9), 6.1 percent of sales (5.6).
- Earnings per share (diluted) EUR 1.46 (1.10), +32.4 percent.
- Net cash flow from operating activities EUR 159.2 million (-20.8).
- Dividend proposed by Board of Directors is EUR 1.05 (1.00) per share.

MARKET OUTLOOK

Demand forecasting continues to be challenging due to macroeconomic uncertainties. Our current offer base indicates a stable or slightly higher near-term demand compared to the fourth quarter of 2012. However, due to the timing of large crane projects, the quarterly Equipment order intake will fluctuate.

FINANCIAL GUIDANCE

Based on the offer base and the near-term demand outlook, the year 2013 sales is expected to be stable or slightly higher than in 2012. We expect the 2013 operating profit to improve from 2012.

President and CEO Pekka Lundmark,

"I am pleased with many aspects of our performance in 2012. In a marketplace where uncertainty and customers' hesitation to make decisions has become the new norm, a 14 percent growth in sales to a new record level of EUR 2,170 million was a good achievement. Operating profit before restructuring costs rose by 18 percent to EUR 138 million and earnings per share 32 percent to EUR 1.46. Cash flow was strong, reducing our gearing to below 40 percent. All in all, 2012 was a good year, but we aim higher.

A year ago, we decided that our service business should prioritize profitability over growth in the short term. The reason was clear: heavy investments in growth, combined with execution issues, had resulted in an EBIT margin of only 7.0 percent in 2011. The results of this prioritization are encouraging, as the 2012 EBIT margin improved to 8.4 percent. Things are moving in the right direction, but obviously we cannot be satisfied with this level yet. There is still profitability improvement potential in numerous areas of our network, which currently includes over 600 service locations in 47 countries.

The profitability of the equipment business developed satisfactorily in a challenging market environment during the first three quarters of 2012, but the last quarter was weaker. There were both market structure issues, such as low industrial cranes demand in some Western markets, and various operational issues. We are now prioritizing profitability over growth in the equipment business in the same way that we did in the service business a year ago. We announced restructuring measures at the beginning of the year, with the main objective of reallocating resources from Western markets to emerging ones.
 
Forecasting demand development has rarely been as difficult as it is right now. In our Q3 report, we said that there were signs of weakening demand after a strong first half of the year. This was also evident in a slight weakness in Q4 orders. However, the number of new opportunities in our pipeline is still good and has actually slightly increased in some units. This means that we are now a bit more optimistic about short-term demand than we were after Q3 last year."

BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ PROPOSAL FOR DISPOSAL OF DISTRIBUTABLE FUNDS

The parent company’s non-restricted equity is EUR 193, 194,781.05, the net income of which for the year is EUR 111,298,139.92. The Group’s non-restricted equity is EUR 385,938,000.

According to the Finnish Companies Act, the distributable funds of the company are calculated based on the parent company’s non-restricted equity. For the purpose of determining the amount of the dividend, the Board of Directors has assessed the liquidity of the parent company and the economic circumstances subsequent to the end of fiscal year.

Based on such assessments the Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that a dividend of EUR 1.05 be paid on each share and that the remaining non-restricted equity is retained in shareholders’ equity.

DISCLOSURE PROCEDURE

Konecranes follows the disclosure procedure enabled by Standard 5.2b published by the Finnish Financial Supervision Authority. This stock exchange release is a summary of Konecranes Plc’s Financial Statements Bulletin 2012. The complete report is attached to this release in pdf format and is also available on Konecranes’ website at www.konecranes.com.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE STATEMENT 2012

Konecranes complies with the Finnish Corporate Governance Code 2010 approved by the Board of the Securities Market Association. Konecranes has issued a Corporate Governance Statement based on the recommendation 54 of the Code, which is attached to this release in pdf format and can be reviewed on the corporate website of Konecranes at www.konecranes.com.

ANALYST AND PRESS BRIEFING

An analyst and press conference will be held at KÄMP Kansallissali (address: Aleksanterinkatu 44 A, 2. floor) at 11.00 a.m. Finnish time. The 2012 Financial Statements will be presented by Konecranes’ President and CEO Pekka Lundmark and CFO Teo Ottola.

A live webcast of the conference will begin at 11.00 a.m. at www.konecranes.com. Please see the stock exchange release on January 10, 2013 for the conference call details.

NEXT REPORT

Konecranes’ January-March 2013 interim report will be published on April 24, 2013.

KONECRANES PLC

Miikka Kinnunen
Director, Investor Relations

For Further Information, Please Contact:
Mr Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO, tel. +358 20 427 2000
Mr Teo Ottola, Chief Financial Officer, tel. +358 20 427 2040
Mr Miikka Kinnunen, Director, Investor Relations, tel. +358 20 427 2050
Mr Mikael Wegmüller, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, 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 2012, Group sales totaled EUR 2,170 million. The Group has 12,100 employees at 609 locations in 47 countries. Konecranes is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki (symbol: KCR1V).

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