The best first quarter in history, says Cargotec CEO

Cargotec today released its interim January–March 2024 report. According to Casimir Lindholm, Cargotec President and CEO, the first quarter of 2024 provided a strong start for the year. Hiab, Kalmar and MacGregor all improved their comparable operating profit margins.

“All businesses combined the company’s comparable operating profit amounted to EUR 137 million, resulting in the best first quarter in Cargotec’s history,” Lindholm highlights.

Kalmar – orders decreased

In Q1 2024, Kalmar’s orders received decreased by 15% from the comparison period and totalled EUR 402 million. Compared to the comparison period, orders received been reduced in all geographical areas, but service orders increased.

Major orders received by Kalmar in the first quarter included:

• 2 fully electric and 8 hybrid straddle carriers to a customer in the Netherlands (Hutchison Ports ECT Rotterdam)
• 2 new electric AutoStrads and retrofitting of 2 existing hybrid straddle carriers to a customer in the US (APM Terminals Pier 400 LA)
• 6 hybrid straddle carriers to a customer in France (Med Europe Terminal in the Port of Marseille)

Lindholm continues: “In Kalmar, strong profitability continued and demand was stable for the third quarter in a row. Demand for mobile equipment used in industrial operations and small- and mid-sized terminals remained good and we continue to see delayed decision-making in larger orders and destocking in the distribution customer segment.”

Kalmar’s sales declined by 10% from the previous year and amounted to EUR 439 million, impacted by lower order intake in the second half of last year. However, Kalmar’s comparable operating profit margin increased to 13.5% as cost-saving actions announced in October last year offset the decline in sales. Kalmar’s comparable operating profit amounted to EUR 59 million.

Kalmar’s research and product development expenditure in the first quarter totalled EUR 12 million, representing 3% of sales. In research and development, Kalmar focused on solutions supporting climate targets in the fields of electrification, digitalisation, robotisation and automation as well as projects that aim to improve the competitiveness and cost efficiency of products.

During Q1 2024, Kalmar strengthened its continuous commitment to innovations by partnering with Forterra to co-develop an autonomous terminal tractor.

Hiab – profit increased by 12%

In Hiab, the quarter was the sixth quarter in a row with a stable level of demand and orders received amounted to EUR 386 million. Hiab’s sales decreased slightly to EUR 415 million while service sales continued to grow.

“Despite lower sales, Hiab’s comparable operating profit increased by 12% and amounted to EUR 69 million, corresponding to 16.6% of sales, driven by successful management of inflationary pressures and tight cost control,” Cargotec President and CEO further comments.

MacGregor – order book continued to increase

Lindholm also referred to MacGregor’s results: “MacGregor’s merchant and services businesses continued to perform well. Orders received increased by 29% to EUR 267 million. Orders included a sizable order with a value of almost EUR 50 million. MacGregor’s order book continued to increase and now exceeds EUR 1 billion.”

MacGregor’s sales increased by 29% to EUR 203 million, driven by increased deliveries to merchant vessels, leading the comparable operating profit to improve to EUR 12 million, representing 6.0% of sales.

Separation of Kalmar and Hiab, solution for MacGregor

“The planned separation of our core businesses Kalmar and Hiab into two world-leading standalone companies is progressing according to the plan, and we are expecting to reach major milestones this year. The completion date of the demerger is expected to be 30 June 2024. Alongside the separate listing of Kalmar, we will focus on finding a solution for MacGregor and preparing Hiab to become a standalone company,” concludes Casimir Lindholm, Cargotec President and CEO.

Due to the high certainty of the transaction, Kalmar has been reported as discontinued operations since the beginning of the year. Hence, the combined financial targets set in November 2022 for Kalmar and Hiab are no longer valid.

Outlook for 2024 unchanged

Cargotec estimates Hiab’s comparable operating profit margin in 2024 to be above 12%, Kalmar’s comparable operating profit margin in 2024 to be above 11%, and MacGregor’s comparable operating profit in 2024 to improve from 2023 (EUR 33 million).