Komatsu sees slight boost in sales and profit during 1Q

Updated Jul 30, 2014
Komatsu says its Intelligent Machine Control, introduced last summer, improves dozing efficiency on the D51Pxi-22 by 9 percent.Komatsu says its Intelligent Machine Control, introduced last summer, improves dozing efficiency on the D51Pxi-22 by 9 percent.

Komatsu announced today increases in both sales and profit during the company’s first quarter ending June 31.

The company reported net sales of $4.5 billion (460.2 billion Japanese yen), up 1.1 percent from the first quarter of 2013. Operating income rose 21.1 percent to $621.7 million (63.4 billion Japanese yen).

Profit for the company rose 1.1 percent during the quarter to $368.5 million (37.6 billion Japanese yen).

Komatsu attributed the gains to an increase in sales of construction equipment in Europe offsetting slumping demand for mining equipment in China.

The company’s construction, mining and utility segment saw sales increase 10.2 percent to $567.5 million (57.9 billion Japanese yen).

Komatsu says it has made no changes to its forecasts for the rest of fiscal year which ends March 31, 2015. The company said back in  May that it expects to meet a “more challenging” market throughout 2014 and into 2015 as demand in rental has “run its course” in Japan and demand for mining equipment is expected to remain low due to “the conservative mindset of mining customers for capital investment against the backdrop of sluggish commodity prices.”

Komatsu is projecting net sales to drop 3.8 percent during the fiscal year to $18.4 billion (1.880 trillion Japanese yen) and profit to drop 3.5 percent to $1.5 billion (154 billion Japanese yen).