Chinese construction equipment and crane manufacturer Zoomlion Heavy Industry posted RMB 20,753 million (about U.S. $3.2 billion), compared to RMB 25,851 million in 2014, a 19.7-percent decline. Gross profit decline 22 percent from RMB 7,209 million in 2014 to RMB 5,607 million in 2014, while profit before taxation skidded from RMB 863 million in 2014 to RMB 39 million in 2015.
Zoomlion has made headlines in recent weeks for its efforts to acquire Westport, Conn.-based Terex Corp. The Chinese firm has offered $3.4 billion, $31 per share, for Terex, which last week asked Zoomlion for a binding proposal.
“The decrease of revenue was mainly due to the weak market demand for concrete machinery and crane machinery,” the company said.
Net income decreased 85 percent to RMB 90 million, its lowest figure since 2000 when in reported RMB 54 million in net income. It was the company’s fourth consecutive year of declines in profit.
In general, Chinese construction equipment manufacturers are facing a glut of unsold equipment after an unprecedented construction boom. Zoomlion is hoping its potential acquisition of Terex would bring it access to markets in the United States and Europe. Zoomlion chairman Zhan Chunxin has stated he hoped to expand the company’s global footprint through acquisitions.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.