Dragon affects Saurer's textile solutions order book
19 Jan '06
3 min read
Textile machinery player Saurer Management AG informed that the company reserved orders worth EUR 1 466m in 2005 (–13 percent compared with EUR 1.690m in 2004). Sales amounted to EUR 1.573m (–1 percent compared with EUR 1.593m in 2004).
The decline in orders compared with the strong previous year is primarily attributable to the reduced demand from China in the Textile Solutions division.
In the Transmission Systems division, orders and sales were slightly increased, but this failed to compensate completely for the decline in Textile Solutions. At EUR 380m, Saurer's orders on hand are some 17 percent below the year-end value for 2004.
In the Textile Solutions division, the orders in 2005 worth EUR 1.067m lagged behind the strong previous year's value (EUR 1 306m, –18 percent; -21 percent after adjustment for currency and acquisition effects).
The main cause for this was the declining demand from China, mainly in the field of large projects for filament machines and synthetic staple fibers, which had already emerged in the second half of 2004.
The annual sales reached EUR 1.174m, thus 3 percent below the previous year's value (EUR 1.209m; –6 percent after adjustment for currency and acquisition effects).
The customers' uncertainty with regard to the trade disputes over textile imports in the first half of 2005, as well as the substantial investments in previous years, had a negative effect on investments in textile machines worldwide.
The second half of 2005, with sales of EUR 616m, reached the previous year's level (EUR 621m). All in all, Asia remained the dominant market in the textiles sector, accounting for 67 percent of sales; however, only 28 percent of this still came from China, compared with 38 percent in 2004. On the other hand, it is encouraging that the Indian market appears in persistently good shape.
marketing@alchempro.com
