Machinery manufacturer Haitian International Holdings (Hong Kong / China; www.haitian.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 04.06.2008 – reported higher sales in the first six months of 2008 but earnings were slightly lower than a year earlier.

Sales increased to EUR 205.7m (up from EUR 188.7m in the first half of 2007). However, operating profit slipped back slightly to EUR 29.2m (down from EUR 29.5m). EBT was also slightly lower and net profit dropped to EUR 26.2m (EUR 28.7m in the first six months of 2007).

CEO Zhang Jianming said that the results had been affected by a slowdown in the US economy, high raw material prices and action by the Chinese government, which made less funding available for investment, especially by small businesses. This led to a 2.1% drop in volume sales of machines with clamping forces of up to 50 kN, which account for nearly two-thirds of Haitian’s sales. By contrast, sales of larger machines increased by around a third to EUR 73.5m.

In response, Haitian raised prices by an average of 6% across its portfolio between January and June and also took action to cut costs. However, these measures did not fully compensate for the downward trend. Zhang plans to streamline workflows further, although no details have been given, and is also considering further price increases if there is a renewed rise in raw material prices.

e-Service:
Haitian’s interim report for the first half of 2008 as a PDF document (124 KB)