SURFACE

Even less joy to be had

BOOKINGS down, service books down, net sales down, cash from operations down. It is a sobering tale from mining equipment maker Joy Global.

Noel Dyson
The US war on coal has had a massive effect on Joy Global's results.

The US war on coal has had a massive effect on Joy Global's results.

The operating loss for the third quarter was $US5 ($A6.6) million.

Consolidated bookings in the third quarter were $527 million, a decrease year-on-year of 17%.  

Original equipment orders fell 46% to $53 million, while service orders dropped 12% to $474 million.

There was a $40 million unfavourable impact from foreign currency exchange movements too.

Bookings for underground mining equipment fell 21% year-on-year while surface mining equipment bookings were down 24%.

Consolidated net sales were $587 million, a 26% fall from the same period last year.

The $5 million loss is a big turnaround from the $82.2 million operating income for the third quarter 2015.

That $87 million turnaround was due to lower sales volumes, an unfavourable product mix, lower manufacturing absorption, restructuring and merger costs. Those were partly offset by savings from the company’s cost reduction program.

On July 21 Joy announced it would be “merging” with Komatsu America Corp. Komatsu basically gets the US mining equipment maker for $3.7 billion.

Joy Global president and CEO Ted Doheny tried to put a positive spin on the results, saying they were pretty much as expected.

“Although market conditions and our incoming order rate remains extremely challenged, our team delivered financial results for the quarter in line with expectations,” he said.

“We continue to drive our strategic growth objectives and surpass our cost savings targets.

“Our focus in these areas has allowed us to deliver on our commitments to shareholders and customers.”

That said, it does not look like things are going to get better in the shorter term.

While there has been some slight signs of global economic growth improving, there are continued challenges out there.

“While the recent increase in certain commodity prices is positive, the outlook remains tepid and the financial condition of our customers is challenged, which will continue to impact both the timing and level of our incoming orders through 2017,” Doheny said.

“In light of persistent difficult market conditions we remain focused on reducing our cost base, accelerating the implementation of our footprint optimisation plans and actively monetising non-core assets.”

Doheny said with the pending Komatsu merger Joy would no longer be providing quarterly updated annual financial guidance.

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