The January-September review by the Finnish industrial machinery maker found that orders received increased to €2,595million (compared with €2,298m in the corresponding period in 2017).
Services orders grew 7%, or 14% in constant currencies, to €1,415m (Jan-Sept 2017: €1,324m). Sales grew 14%, or 21% in constant currencies, and totalled €2,276m (€1,989m). Services sales grew 10%, or 17% in constant currencies, and totalled €1,300m (€1,183m).
Adjusted EBITA was €272m, or 11.9% of sales (€179m or 9.0%). Operating profit (EBIT) totalled €258m, or 11.3% of sales (€159m or 8.0%). Earnings per share were €1.11 (€0.60), and free cash flow was €89m (€101m).
In the third quarter of 2018 (July to September) Metso has reported “healthy activity” in all markets. Orders received increased 8% from Q3 2017, or 16% in constant currencies, to €883m (Q3 2017: €817m). Services orders grew 4%, or 12% in constant currencies, to €461m (€443m).
Metso has also published market outlook (previous outlook, published on July 26, 2018, in brackets) and says its market conditions are expected to develop as follows: growth in demand to increase for Minerals equipment ; growth in demand to remain stable for Minerals services; growth in demand to remain stable (to level off) for Flow Control. The outlook represents expected sequential market development with a rolling six-month view.
Interim president and CEO Eeva Sipilä commented: "I am very pleased with our strong order growth of 8% during the third quarter. Despite global political and economic uncertainty, we have been successful in offering our customers solutions that deliver sustainable productivity improvements. We continue our intense efforts on R&D and digitalisation to further develop our offering globally. In addition, work on growth investments and adjacent acquisitions supporting our profitable growth strategy has continued as planned, demonstrated by our announcement in September to invest in additional foundry capacity in India."
"Our 18% sales growth reflects progress in ramping-up our supply chain. We continue to drive multiple actions to further improve our delivery capabilities and flexibility. Our sales mix in Minerals is changing, as indicated earlier, with higher growth in equipment than services. While this affects our margin development to some extent, the expansion of our installed base is important for our future. Nevertheless, we reached an adjusted EBITA margin of 12.2% in the quarter."
Sipilä added that Metso's year-to-date financial results demonstrate that it has been able to make a step change in its performance this year. New Metso president and CEO Pekka Vauramo takes charge on November 1.
