Komatsu reports 5.3% fall in half-year sales

Japanese construction giant Komatsu has announced a 5.3% fall in its sales for six months to September 2015.

The world’s second-largest construction equipment manufacturer reported that consolidated net sales for the six-month period totalled JPY 892.4 billion (US$ 7.41 billion).

Compared with the same period in 2014, Komatsu’s operating income decreased by 21.2%, to JPY 99.0 billion (US$ 822 million), with a total net income attributable to Komatsu Ltd of JPY 65.0 billion (US$ 540 million), down 16.5% over the period.

According to the Komatsu statement, declining sales of mining equipment, along with a general lack of demand from China and other emerging countries, could only be partially offset by the firm’s capture of demand for construction equipment in North America.

Conversely, Komatsu’s technology subsidiary, Gigaphoton Inc, working within the semiconductor industry, demonstrated increased sales. The Gigaphoton uplift notwithstanding, Komatsu reports a general decline in sales over the six-month period across “industrial machinery and other business”.

In the six months to September, Komatsu reports it has made efforts to reduce fixed costs on a global scale, realigning its business to cope with dramatic changes in the demand for construction and mining equipment.