Komatsu equipment sales down -15%

Komatsu's sales of construction and mining equipment hit JPY 1.74 trillion (US$ 18 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 31 2009, a -15% fall on fiscal 2008. The company's overall net profit was down -62% to JPY 78.8 billion (US$ 813 million).

The biggest fall in equipment sales was in Europe and the CIS, where Komatsu saw sales fall -36% to JPY 273 billion (US$ 2.82 billion) last year. Its largest market, the Americas, saw a fall of -9.4% to JPY 462 billion (US$ 4.77 billion). The decline was on a par with the fall seen in the Middle East and Africa, where Komatsu sold JPY 210 billion (US$ 2.2 billion) of equipment last year, a -8.7% fall on fiscal 2008.

Komatsu's home market of Japan saw a -16.4% fall in the company's sales to JPY 310 billion (US$ 3.2 billion). Other parts of Asia and Oceania were less affected by the downturn, with revenues falling just -5.8% to the same level - JPY 310 billion (US$ 3.2 billion), while sales to China were down just -1.2% to JPY 179 billion (US$ 1.85 billion).

Forecast

Komatsu expects its total sales to fall another -24% this year, from the JPY 2.02 trillion (US$ 20.8 billion) seen this year to JPY 1.53 trillion (US$ 15.8 billion) for the next fiscal year. Its operating profit is expected to more than halve to JPY 72 billion (US$ 743 million), compared to the JPY 152 billion (US$ 1.57 billion) achieved this year.

A statement from the company said, "It is difficult to expect rapid recovery of the global construction and mining equipment market, and thus Komatsu is anticipating that a challenging environment will continue for some time."