Konecranes Plc: Half-year financial report January-June 2021
KONECRANES PLC HALF-YEAR FINANCIAL REPORT JANUARY-JUNE 2021 JULY 28, 2021 8:30 am EEST
Konecranes Plc: Half-year financial report January-June 2021
Strong orders and fourth consecutive quarterly adjusted EBITA-% record
This release is a summary of Konecranes Plc’s Half-year financial report January-June 2021. The complete report is attached to this release in pdf format and is also available on Konecranes’ website at www.konecranes.com.
The figures presented in this report are unaudited. Figures in brackets, unless otherwise stated, refer to the same period a year earlier.
SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
- Order intake EUR 806.7 million (581.5), +38.7 percent (+41.1 percent on a comparable currency basis), driven by order intake increases in all three Business Areas
- Service annual agreement base value stayed approximately the same (0.0 percent in reported currencies) but increased 1.2 percent on a comparable currency basis to EUR 282.8 million (282.9). Service order intake was EUR 257.5 million (209.1), +23.1 percent (+26.2 percent on a comparable currency basis)
- Order book EUR 1,974.8 million (1,904.5) at the end of June, +3.7 percent (+4.8 percent on a comparable currency basis)
- Sales EUR 759.3 million (704.7), +7.7 percent (+10.0 percent on a comparable currency basis), sales increased in Business Areas Service and Port Solutions but decreased in Industrial Equipment
- Adjusted EBITA margin 8.6 percent (8.2) and adjusted EBITA EUR 65.3 million (57.5); the increase was driven by higher sales as well as continued focus on strategic initiatives
- Operating profit EUR 46.6 million (42.7), 6.1 percent of sales (6.1), restructuring and transaction costs totaled EUR 10.4 million (5.9)
- Earnings per share (diluted) EUR 0.36 (0.38)
- Free cash flow EUR 15.4 million (53.7)
JANUARY-JUNE 2021 HIGHLIGHTS
- Order intake EUR 1,569.5 million (1,318.5), +19.0 percent (+21.8 percent on a comparable currency basis)
- Service order intake EUR 512.7 million (475.2), +7.9 percent (+11.7 percent on a comparable currency basis)
- Sales EUR 1,463.3 million (1,474.2), -0.7 percent (+1.7 percent on a comparable currency basis)
- Adjusted EBITA margin 8.3 percent (5.3) and adjusted EBITA EUR 121.6 million (78.6); the adjusted EBITA margin improved in all three Business Areas
- Operating profit EUR 84.1 million (50.5), 5.8 percent of sales (3.4), restructuring and transaction costs totaled EUR 20.7 million (10.1)
- Earnings per share (diluted) EUR 0.59 (0.53)
- Free cash flow EUR 33.0 million (107.5)
- Net debt EUR 624.4 million (770.2) and gearing 50.6 percent (62.8)
THIRD QUARTER DEMAND OUTLOOK
The worldwide demand picture remains subject to volatility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Europe, the current demand environment within the industrial customer segments has reached the pre-COVID-19 level, while in North America the demand environment is still behind the pre-COVID-19 level. In Asia-Pacific, the demand environment remains below the pre-COVID-19 level outside China.
Global container throughput continues to be at a record high, and long-term prospects related to global container handling remain good overall.
FINANCIAL GUIDANCE
Konecranes expects net sales to increase in full-year 2021 compared to 2020. Konecranes expects the full-year 2021 adjusted EBITA margin to improve from 2020.
KEY FIGURES
| Second quarter | January - June | |||||||
| 4-6/ 2021 |
4-6/ 2020 |
Change% | 1-6/ 2021 |
1-6/ 2020 |
Change% | R12M |
1-12/ 2020 |
|
| Orders received, MEUR | 806.7 | 581.5 | 38.7 | 1,569.5 | 1,318.5 | 19.0 | 2,978.3 | 2,727.3 |
| Order book at end of period, MEUR | 1,974.8 | 1,904.5 | 3.7 | 1,715.5 | ||||
| Sales total, MEUR | 759.3 | 704.7 | 7.7 | 1,463.3 | 1,474.2 | -0.7 | 3,168.0 | 3,178.9 |
| Adjusted EBITDA, MEUR 1 | 86.5 | 83.0 | 4.1 | 165.5 | 129.0 | 28.3 | 393.2 | 356.7 |
| Adjusted EBITDA, % 1 | 11.4% | 11.8% | 11.3% | 8.8% | 12.4% | 11.2% | ||
| Adjusted EBITA, MEUR 2 | 65.3 | 57.5 | 13.5 | 121.6 | 78.6 | 54.7 | 303.8 | 260.8 |
| Adjusted EBITA, % 2 | 8.6% | 8.2% | 8.3% | 5.3% | 9.6% | 8.2% | ||
| Adjusted operating profit, MEUR 1 | 57.0 | 48.5 | 17.5 | 104.8 | 60.6 | 72.9 | 269.1 | 224.9 |
| Adjusted operating margin, % 1 | 7.5% | 6.9% | 7.2% | 4.1% | 8.5% | 7.1% | ||
| Operating profit, MEUR | 46.6 | 42.7 | 9.3 | 84.1 | 50.5 | 66.8 | 207.5 | 173.8 |
| Operating margin, % | 6.1% | 6.1% | 5.8% | 3.4% | 6.5% | 5.5% | ||
| Profit before taxes, MEUR | 41.1 | 42.4 | -3.0 | 67.8 | 58.5 | 15.9 | 179.6 | 170.3 |
| Net profit for the period, MEUR | 28.4 | 30.3 | -6.3 | 46.8 | 41.8 | 11.8 | 127.8 | 122.9 |
| Earnings per share, basic, EUR | 0.36 | 0.38 | -6.6 | 0.59 | 0.53 | 11.4 | 1.60 | 1.54 |
| Earnings per share, diluted, EUR | 0.36 | 0.38 | -6.6 | 0.59 | 0.53 | 11.4 | 1.60 | 1.54 |
| Interest-bearing net debt / Equity, % | 50.6% | 62.8% | 46.1% | |||||
| Net debt / Adjusted EBITDA, R12M 1 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 1.6 | |||||
| Return on capital employed, % | 8.8% | 8.3% | ||||||
| Adjusted return on capital employed, % 3 | 13.0% | 11.1% | ||||||
| Free cash flow, MEUR | 15.4 | 53.7 | 33.0 | 107.5 | 291.6 | 366.1 | ||
| Average number of personnel during the period | 16,670 | 17,105 | -2.5 | 17,027 | ||||
1) Excluding adjustments, see also note 10 in the summary financial statements
2) Excluding adjustments and purchase price allocation amortization, see also note 10 in the summary financial statements
3) ROCE excluding adjustments, see also note 10 in the summary financial statements
PRESIDENT AND CEO ROB SMITH:
Konecranes reported its fourth consecutive quarter of record profitability, powered by solid sales growth and high performance across the whole organization. Strong first-half orders, especially in our short-cycle products, together with continuing traction from strategic initiatives give us good momentum for the latter half of the year.
Overall market sentiment continued to improve in Q2 compared to the previous quarters, though COVID-19 related market volatility is not over. Activity remained high in the port sector and continued to improve with our industrial customers, and at end-June our order book was at a record high. Sequentially, orders received in the quarter increased by over EUR 43 million and totaled EUR 806.7 million. Year-on-year, Konecranes’ Q2 order intake grew 41.1% in comparable currencies, as last year’s Q2 marked the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns from a global perspective. We saw once again good order growth in our short-cycle products.
Component availability and other supply chain constrains continued to affect sales in Q2, with a quarterly impact of approximately EUR 35 million. However, sales still grew by 10.0% year-on-year in comparable currencies and increased in Port Solutions and Service but remained at the previous year’s level in Industrial Equipment. As a result, and in line with our expectations for the full year, H1 sales exceeded last year’s H1 sales in comparable currencies and were 0.7% behind last year’s level in reported currencies.
Our Q2 adjusted EBITA margin was 8.6%, marking the fourth quarter in row with an all-time high adjusted EBITA margin for the quarter in question. This is an excellent achievement given the pandemic is still disrupting many countries, and there are global component and other supply chain issues. I would like to thank our employees for their hard work, and our suppliers and customers for their close collaboration during the quarter.
COVID-19 and the global component shortage are not the only events recently impacting our operations. Two weeks ago, one of our biggest factories, Wetter, was affected by the flooding catastrophe in Germany. While no employees were injured, there was some physical damage at the site, and we expect to close the production gap within a month. We have many employees living in the region, and our thoughts and sympathies are with them, their family members and communities.
As for our Q2 performance by each business, Service order intake improved by 26.2% year-on-year in comparable currencies, and orders grew in all three regions. Despite year-on-year sales growth, component shortages and logistics delays impacted Service sales and also the sales mix, and as a result, the adjusted EBITA margin was 16.8%, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points versus a year ago. The agreement base value grew by 1.2% from the previous year in comparable currencies, continuing to demonstrate the resiliency of our Service growth engine during the pandemic.
Industrial Equipment’s external order intake grew by 48.4% in comparable currencies. Net sales were impacted by supply chain constrains resulting from COVID-19, component shortages and logistics delays. The good profitability trajectory continued: Industrial Equipment’s adjusted EBITA margin was 2.1%, improving by 0.4 percentage points from the previous year, mainly driven by the favorable sales mix as well as continued good progress with our strategic initiatives, especially in the process crane business.
In Port Solutions, the previous quarters’ good order momentum continued, and order intake grew 47.9% from the previous year in comparable currencies. Lift Trucks, Straddle Carriers, Solutions and Port Service had a strong order intake. Port Solutions’ adjusted EBITA margin increased by 0.7 percentage points to 7.1%, driven by higher sales and our project management excellence initiative.
While we expect market volatility to continue due to the pandemic, we have updated our demand outlook for Q3 to reflect the current market sentiment. We reiterate our full-year guidance for 2021 despite the supply chain challenges which impacted net sales in H1 and continue to impact operations in Q3. We expect to overcome these challenges, with net sales to increase in full-year 2021 compared to 2020, and given our performance track record and the ongoing positive impact of our strategic initiatives, we expect our full-year adjusted EBITA margin to improve from 2020.
Our announced merger with Cargotec is progressing well – merger control filings and integration planning teams are making good headway. In the beginning of July the European Commission opened a Phase II merger control review, which is a common step for sizeable global transactions. Shortly after that, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) referred the planned merger for a Phase II investigation under its fast track procedure. Phase II will enable the European Commission and the CMA to consider the merger in further detail, and Konecranes and Cargotec continue to closely cooperate with all relevant authorities to demonstrate the rationale of the planned merger. Both companies continue to operate fully separately and independently until all merger closing conditions are met and the deal is completed.
The merger is fully aligned with Konecranes’ strategic plans and growth ambitions, and we are confident that the merger will be completed by the end of H1 2022. Together with Cargotec we will create a global leader in sustainable material flow.
ANALYST AND PRESS BRIEFING
A live international webcast for analysts, investors and media will be held on July 28, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. EEST. The half-year financial report will be presented by Konecranes’ President and CEO Rob Smith and CFO Teo Ottola.
Please see the press release dated July 14, 2021 for the conference call details.
NEXT REPORT
Konecranes Plc plans to publish Interim report January-September 2021 on October 28, 2021.
KONECRANES PLC
Kiira Fröberg
Vice President, Investor Relations
FURTHER INFORMATION
Kiira Fröberg,
Vice President, Investor Relations,
tel. +358 (0) 20 427 2050
IMPORTANT NOTICE
The Merger and the merger consideration securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act, and may not be offered, sold or delivered within or into the United States, except pursuant to an applicable exemption of, or in a transaction not subject to, the U.S. Securities Act.
The information in this release is not directed to, or intended for distribution to or use by, any person or entity that is a citizen or resident of, or located in, any locality, state, country or other jurisdiction where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would require any registration or licensing within such jurisdiction and it does not constitute an offer of or an invitation by or on behalf of, Konecranes, or any other person, to purchase any securities.
The information in this release contains forward-looking statements, which are information on Konecranes’ current expectations and projections relating to its financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business. These statements may include, without limitation, any statements preceded by, followed by or including words such as “target,” “believe,” “expect,” “aim,” “intend,” “may,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “will,” “can have,” “likely,” “should,” “would,” “could” and other words and terms of similar meaning or the negative thereof. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors beyond Konecranes’ control that could cause Konecranes’ actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the expected results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding Konecranes’ present and future business strategies and the environment in which it will operate in the future.
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 of all makes. In 2020, Group sales totaled EUR 3.2 billion. The Group has around 16,500 employees in 50 countries. Konecranes shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki (symbol: KCR).
DISTRIBUTION
Nasdaq Helsinki
Major media
www.konecranes.com