Kalmar Industries, the world's leading supplier of container handling machines and logistic solutions in ports and freight terminals, a now fully owned subsidiary of the Partek Corporation, announced today an all time earnings high for the year 2000.
General order intake for the Company increased by 43% to 745 MEUR and Sales by 20% to 643 MEUR. The Company's Operating Profit increased to 49,3 MEUR (27,8 MEUR). This strong increase in revenue and profit is attributed to Kalmar's increasing market penetration and market share, strong overall market growth, and implementation of the restructuring measures and the ongoing improvement program.
Record Earnings
The year 2000 was Kalmar's best year to date in terms of orders, sales, and profit. Operating Profit was 49,3 MEUR (27,8 MEUR) and Return on Capital Employed 22% (13%). Growth was experienced in all markets. Increase in demand for Kalmar's products and services in the Asian Pacific were particularly strong and North American sales continued to grow from their already high level. Demand for Kalmar's reachstacker, straddle carriers, RTG cranes, and its heavy FLT was especially strong and were reflected in particularly strong sales figures for these equipment lines.
Kalmar RT Center in Texas, USA, signed a requirements contract for the delivery of a total of 390 container handling machines to the United States Army between 2000 - 2007. The contract is valued at 190 MUSD. During the year, Kalmar booked delivery orders totaling28 MUSD within the framework of the contract.
Extended range of services
The trend within the material handling industry for customers to outsource supporting services continued during the year. This trend was evident in the revenue growth for Kalmar Solutions; the business segment responsible for all of Kalmar's service oriented products. The strong increase in sales of new machines over the year will provide an increase in service and maintenance contracts in the coming years. This is in line with Kalmar Solution's goal of noticeably increasing its share of Kalmar's total revenues. Kalmar Industry's goal is to offer its customers a total maintenance and operation package for the entire range of their material handling equipment fleet.
Kalmar also won several major service contracts during the year. One of these, the full service contract covering machines in the Eurofos port of Marseille, is valued at 18 MEUR. Kalmar also acquired the sales and service company Klaus Eger GmbH, based in Bremen, Germany. This acquisition will noticeably increase Kalmar's strength in maintenance and service for northern German port operations.
New Products
During the year Kalmar introduced several new products. To meet the changing needs related to the growing size of container ships, Kalmar introduced a transport straddle carrier concept focused on transporting containers, but with a 1 over 1 container lifting capability.
Another unique Kalmar innovation, a satellite-based automatic steering system for RTG cranes, Smartrail , is gaining increasing market success due to the remarkable increase in handling productivity it provides. The proven success of the system has prompted other customers to order the Smartrail system for their non-Kalmar equipment as well. Kalmar Industries also expanded its range of terminal automation products with the addition of SmartpathTM, a complete automation package for straddle carriers and reachstackers. SmartpathTM allows real-time container position information to be integrated into all leading yard planning and equipment control systems with no modification required.
Acquisition of Nelcon
In December, Kalmar announced the acquisition of Nelcon BV, a manufacturer of container handling equipment, and Groot-Hensen, a related service company. The companies have annual revenues of 80 million Euros. Rotterdam based Nelcon manufactures a wide array of harbour cranes, including ship-to-shore container gantry cranes (SSC) and rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMG). Nelcon is also a leading manufacturer of diesel-electric straddle carriers. This acquisition forms an important and logical step in Kalmar's overall business strategy of providing a total handling service for its container handling customers. In addition, the acquisition will considerably strengthen Kalmar's servicing capability in the region. The addition of Nelcon will also provide Kalmar with increased access to expertise regarding all makes and types of handling equipment, thereby strengthening the Company's position with regards to comprehensive service and maintenance both for Kalmar and non-Kalmar equipment. The transaction is subject to approval from the Dutch authorities.
Christer Granskog President and CEO