FLSmidth sees order intake decline 10%

FLSmidth’s order intake declined 10 per cent YoY to DKK19.554bn (US$2.86bn) in 2019, on the back of a decrease in large capital orders due to market uncertainty and a delay in customer decisions, according to a press release.

"2019 has been a year of challenges but also successes. We maintained a stable growth in revenue and the service business gained momentum over the year. We see rising demand for our solutions to help customers obtain a more sustainable production, and good progress was made on our digital and sustainable innovations," said Thomas Schulz, group CEO.

Company revenue advanced 10 per cent to DKK20.646bn from DKK18.750bn in 2018, while EBITA was also up five per cent YoY to DKK1.663bn.

"During the year, we however experienced an unfavourable development in business mix and a weakening business environment. The latter led to delayed customer decisions and postponement of capital orders, and some mining projects delivered lower profit than anticipated. While this was disappointing, we were pleased to see that the financial performance of our cement business showed a positive development despite challenging market conditions," added Mr Schulz.

FLSmidth’s cement segment saw a two per cent YoY rise in order intake to DKK1.556bn in the fourth quarter, driven by a record-high service order intake. However, in the full-year 2019 order intake declined 16 per cent to DKK7.490bn from DKK8.881bn in 2018.

Going forward, the company has already announced large orders of approximately DKK2bn in the first quarter of 2020.