Komatsu Q1 sales jump 44%, profit doubles in wake of Joy Global acquisition

Updated Aug 14, 2017
Joy Global’s P&H L-1150 loaderJoy Global’s P&H L-1150 loader

The immediate impact of Komatsu’s acquisition of Wisconsin-based surface and underground mining equipment manufacturer Joy Global has been overwhelmingly positive as the Japanese equipment manufacturer has seen big sales and profit gains in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

According to the company’s FY 2018 Q1 earnings report, sales are up 44.2 percent to 561.2 billion Japanese Yen ($5.1 billion). Komatsu attributed the sharp increase to the Joy acquisition along with increased construction equipment demand from “China, Indonesia and many other countries.”

In the Americas, Komatsu reports increased demand for equipment, especially from the energy sector.

Because the Joy purchase expanded sales in many areas of the world, Komatsu also saw profits double, increasing 133 percent to 36.4 billion Yen ($333 million).

Komatsu completed its $3.7 billion acquisition of Joy in April and renamed the 133-year-old Milwaukee-based business Komatsu Mining Corp. Komatsu delisted Joy shares from the New York Stock exchange and no longer publicly trades the shares.

Komatsu has made no changes to its outlook for the remainder of FY 2018, which ends March 31, 2018. The company projects a sales increase of 18.4 percent over FY 2017 to 2.1 trillion Yen ($19.5 billion). However, the company expects to see profit fall by 18.9 percent to 92 billion Yen ($842.6 million).