LOGISTICS technology company Cargotec has claimed a “solid performance” in the first half year of the 2020 calendar year.
Listed highlights were total liquidity at EUR 970m (AU$1.6bn) and progress towards the climate goal of being a 1.5 degree company.
Meanwhile in the April–June 2020 quarter, orders received decreased by 27% and totalled EUR 637m.
Cargotec CEO Mika Vehviläinen said the second quarter began in “a very exceptional situation”.
“The virus, and in particular the resulting regulatory restrictions, had a strong impact on our business in the beginning of the second quarter,” Mr Vehviläinen said.
“However, the operating environment improved as the quarter progressed. The operating hours we collect from our connected equipment also show that customers’ activity levels have been clearly rising since the drop in the beginning of the quarter.”
Mr Vehviläinen said their ability to deliver products to customers was impacted by closures of assembly units and lower utilisation rates of assembly lines caused by the safety regulations as well as production downtime at our suppliers.
“However, the situation in our supply chain is normalising and all our assembly sites were back in operation by June,” he said.
“Our service and software sales were resilient despite the market circumstances. The COVID-19 crisis has also further increased customer interest in remote maintenance services.”
Mr Vehviläinen they introduced their climate ambition to be a 1.5 degree company.
“According to the commitment, we aim to reduce the CO2 emissions of raw material sourcing and product use phase by at least 50% from the 2019 levels by 2030,” he said.
“In addition, we aim to be carbon neutral in our own operations by 2030. In terms of electrically powered equipment, we are the forerunners, which gives us great business opportunities.”
He said sales of their eco-efficiency portfolio increased slightly in the first half of the year compared to the previous year and accounted for 23% of total sales.
“We start the second half of the year in a stable position,” Mr Vehviläinen said. “Our financial position is strong and at the end of the quarter, Cargotec’s total liquidity was EUR 970 million. In addition, our order book is still at a good level.”
