Finnish elevator and escalator manufacturer Kone was much sought-after on the stock market this Friday, following the announcement of strong order intake in China.

The Group announced this morning that it had posted a "solid end to the year", with total orders up 5.4% to 2.05 billion euros in the fourth quarter, representing growth of 10.5% at constant exchange rates.

In particular, orders in China climbed by almost 30% year-on-year in a market that was nonetheless down by almost 10%", noted RBC analysts.

Kone nevertheless saw its operating profit fall to 362.1 million euros in the last three months of 2023, compared with 367.1 million euros a year earlier, a figure in line with analysts' forecasts.

At the same time, sales fell by 3.5% to 2.8 billion euros, although growth at comparable exchange rates was 0.7%.

For 2024, Kone said it expected sales to be stable or slightly up on last year at constant exchange rates, with a further improvement in its adjusted operating margin (Ebit).

One of the major concerns for 2024 was a possible downturn in the Chinese order book and its impact on capacity utilization", recalls RBC.

"While this concern remains valid - after all, the Chinese market continues to contract - this risk seems to have been postponed for the time being", concludes RBC in a note.

At around 11:00 am, Kone shares were up 1.6% on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, while the European sector index, the STOXX Europe 600 Industrials, was up 1.1%.

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