Kone´s operating income grows by 1.1% in Q3

Finnish elevator and escalator company Kone reported strong growth in its July-September results published on Thursday, reported Xinhua.

Kone reported a 333.1-million-euro operating income in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, up from 314.2 million euros in the same period of 2019.

This performance exceeded the expectations of analysts quoted by a leading Finnish language business daily Kauppalehti.

Kone's sales in Q3 2020 grew by 1.1 percent to 2,587 million euros from 2,557.6 million euros in the corresponding period last year, according to a press release issued by the company.

Orders received declined by 3.8 percent to 1,931.7 million euros from 2,007.3 million euros in Q3 2019, however.

Henrik Ehrnrooth, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Kone, described in the press release the Q3 results as "overall strong although mixed across the different regions and businesses."

He said that in Q3, Kone's Chinese market developed extremely well in terms of both sales and orders. Markets in other parts of the world improved but continued to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with increasing uncertainty towards the end of the quarter, he noted.

Ehrnrooth said that demand for new equipment decreased in most parts of the world. However, in the Asia-Pacific area volumes grew clearly as a result of high-level activity in China, while those in markets elsewhere declined.