STOCKHOLM, Sweden, July 18, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Stockholm, Sweden, July 18, 2005: Today Atlas Copco reported record sales and record profits. ``The development has been very strong in all business areas, including acquired units," says Gunnar Brock, President and CEO. "We expect the demand for Atlas Copco's products and services to remain at a high level in the near-term future."
Orders received were up 24% to MSEK 13 838 (11,201) in the quarter. Revenues increased 22% to MSEK 13,062 (10,680), up 10% in volume for comparable units. The operating profit increased 45% and the margin reached a new all-time high, 17.5%. Profit after financial items was up 42% to MSEK 2,128 (1,502), a margin of 16.3% (14.1).
Atlas Copco's market coverage has expanded and territory management has improved. "We have employed new sales engineers and service technicians on many markets and that brings results. In India for example, we have almost doubled sales in just two years. We have established new customer centers in several places, to further improve customer relations and aftermarket support."
Atlas Copco has further enhanced its sales activities and has received a number of break-through orders. ``We have established ourselves within the liquid natural gas segment with our compressors, and in car assembly plants in Japan with our sophisticated fastening tools."
Both the financial performance and the fleet utilization in the Rental Service business area are at record level. ``The quality of the rental fleet is top-of-the-line and the average fleet age is today 2.8 years."
Continuous research and development to secure innovative products is a success factor for the Atlas Copco Group. ``A new range of industrial compressors and new tools were launched and have been well received by the customers. We are proud to have our new tunneling rig, the most productive on the market, in production in a project in Finland. We also invest in production to meet future demand and are investing MSEK 40 in Sweden to increase production flow and assembly capacity for loaders and mine trucks."
Atlas Copco is an international industrial Group with its head office in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2004, the Group had revenues of approximately BSEK 49, with 98% of revenues outside Sweden. The Group has more than 25 000 employees. The Group produces and markets compressed air equipment and generators, construction and mining equipment, industrial tools, and assembly systems and offers related service and equipment rental. The Atlas Copco Group includes famous brands such as Atlas Copco, RSC Equipment Rental, and CP. More information can be found on atlascopco.com.
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