Volvo Construction Equipment has reported a 24% rise in sales for the third quarter of the year, driven by strong growth in South America, China and Russia.
According to figures released by the company, net sales increased to $2.06bn while operating income also went up to $286m from $224m in the same period of 2017. The resulting operating margin also improved to 13.9%.
Higher equipment and service sales, improved capacity utilisation and good cost control were cited as factors for a positive impact on profitability.
According to Volvo CE, net order intake increased by 22% year-on-year in the third quarter, largely driven by higher intake from China and particularly Europe, which saw orders increase 53%, mainly due to large rental orders for compact machines.
North American orders also grew strongly, rising 47%, propelled by medium and large machine sales, and South America also saw order intake rise by a fifth. Deliveries increased by 17%, to 16,861 machines in the third quarter.
Up to the end of August the European market was up 11%, driven by growth in Russia and stable demand in Germany, the UK, France and Italy. North America saw an increase of 19% over last year, thanks to demand for excavators, haulers, large wheel loaders and road equipment.
In Asia (excluding China) the total market was 13% above last year, while the Chinese market was 42% above last year for the Swedish giant.
Melker Jernberg, president, Volvo CE, commented: It is encouraging that we have been able to sustain the strong development of recent quarters, with both sales and profitability being above the levels of last year. Good demand in most markets for our range of competitive products helped to deliver yet another strong set of figures.
