Gunnar Brock comments on Atlas Copco’s Q3 results

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• 25th November 2007
• Materials Handling
 

Stockholm, Sweden, October 24, 2007: Atlas Copco today reported its 22nd consecutive quarter of robust organic growth, supported by strong demand in all geographical regions and with operating profit at a record level.

"Sales of equipment and service were both strong and we saw tremendous growth in emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China," says President and CEO Gunnar Brock. "In the near term, we believe that demand for our products and services will remain at the current high level, overall."

Atlas Copco's revenues increased 31% from the previous year to MSEK 16 431, corresponding to an organic growth of 19%. The operating profit rose 36% to MSEK 3 127, corresponding to a margin of 19.0% (18.4).

"All business areas contributed to the record result," Gunnar Brock says. "We're proud to see that we, despite cost increases in raw material and components, adverse currency effects and capacity constraints in certain areas, have managed to grow both sales and profits substantially."

During the third quarter, the acquisition of Mafi-Trench expanded the offering for the growing oil and gas industry, with turboexpanders and related products. "Mafi-Trench has already showed its value for the Group, by winning it's largest-ever order in September."

The Group continued to invest for higher production capacity, including two refurbished factories in India for compressors and construction and mining equipment. "We are positioning ourselves to tap all areas of future growth, geographically and in different market segments, including the aftermarket," Gunnar Brock says. "Strengthening our production in Asia is vital, considering the region is now as large as North America in terms of order volumes."

http://www.atlascopco.com/.