KONE Reports First-Quarter Earnings, Order Intake

KONE said its overall order intake was up after it posted weaker-than-expected first-quarter core earnings and trimmed its full-year outlook on the back of supply chain constraints and a decline in its China business, Reuters reports. With a global market share of close to 20%, the Finnish company has made “good progress” this year in pushing through price increases for elevators and escalators, and is slashing costs to compensate for rising raw material prices, CEO Henrik Ehrnrooth said. He added that ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns in China have added to problems of an ongoing liquidity squeeze among local property developers. KONE’s January-March operating profit fell to EUR171.1 million (US$181.6 million) from EUR249.8 million (US$263.42 million) a year earlier, missing the EUR225.8 million (US$238.11 million) average estimate by Refinitiv. KONE’s order intake rose to EUR2.42 billion (US$2.55 billion) in the first quarter from EUR2.08 billion (US$2.19 billion) a year ago. Boosting earnings margins remains the company’s top priority, Ehrnrooth said. KONE now expects revenue to grow by between 2% and 5% this year, down from an earlier projection of 2-7%.