KONE posts strong Q2 perfomance

Finland's KONE Corporation, a leader in elevator and escalator industry, reported on Friday improved results in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, reported Xinhua.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the company in Q2 reached 324.6 million euros, 1.6 percent higher than the 319.6 million euros it had in Q2 2019, the corporation said in a media release.

The company also saw a net income of 244.4 million euros in Q2 this year, up 2.3 percent from the same period a year ago. Its sales, however, went down 0.3 percent from 2.54 billion euros in Q2 2019 to 2.532 billion euros in Q2 this year, noted the release.

"In the second quarter, we had a strong performance in a very challenging environment," KONE President and CEO Henrik Ehrnrooth was quoted in the press release as saying.

According to him, orders received by the company declined 9.4 percent in Q2 in comparable currencies. But "orders received continued to develop very positively in China and in some European countries, while orders received in the rest of the world declined significantly," he added.

Looking ahead, the company expected its new equipment market to be relatively stable in China and to decline in other regions as a result of the increased uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic.