During his presentation Lundmark commented: “Demand for Konecranes’ products and services have developed favourably in the beginning of 2011. Orders received for Service have continued to grow owing to the higher capacity utilisation within customer industries. The improved demand for port cranes and heavy-duty cranes has boosted Equipment order intake compared to a year ago.
As communicated in our financial statements 2010 bulleting, we are increasing our technology and IT development spending in 2011 to improve our internal efficiency and to further improve our ability to enhance our customers’ productivity. This boosted development will add approximately EUR 20 million to our cost base in 2011 while the benefits will follow later. Coupled with the timing of deliveries, we expect clear earnings seasonality in 2011. As usual, the first quarter will be the weakest quarter of the year.”
The financial guidance issued on February 3, 2011 is reiterated: We forecast year 2011 sales and operating profit to be higher than in 2010.