a Finnish manufacturer of elevators Kone reported a smaller-than-expected drop in profits in the first quarter, and the demand for its products and services in many countries even increased, despite the outbreak of coronavirus.
According to CEO Henrik Ernrooth in the first quarter, the company demonstrated good results in Central and Northern Europe and America, but the impact of coronavirus caused the losses of Kone in China, India and southern Europe.
"We've managed pretty well to weather the storm," he told reporters Henrik Ehrnrooth.
Kone Shares rose 6.8% to 55,54 Euro in afternoon trading.
"the Level of activity in China now is very high, we are seeing a very rapid recovery of this market," said Ehrnrooth.
China is a key market for the Elevator industry. According to Kone, in 2019 the share of China accounted for 63% of the world market of new equipment, amounting to about one million units.
"Going forward, it is clear that from the point of view of the development results, the worst is yet to come in most regions of the world," said Ehrnrooth. "The pricing environment in January-March remained relatively stable. However, at the end of the quarter there were signs of price pressures".
last month, Kone lowered its profit forecast for this year due to the outbreak of coronavirus, stating that its sales in 2020 and adjusted margin at best to remain unchanged from 2019. The company has confirmed the forecast on Wednesday.
Kone said that it has won orders for 2.1 billion euros in the quarter, which is 0.7% more than the previous year, and comfortably exceeded the consensus forecast of 16 analysts in 1.9 billion euros.
while sales of new equipment declined by 5% compared to last year, sales of services increased by 5%, while sales of maintenance that are most resistant to economic cycles, increased by 6.4% to 817,5 million euros.
