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(May 9, 2011)
| Sales | Operating income | Net Income | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 | 89,807 (-13.9%) | -3,733(-------) | -6,722 (-------) |
| Fiscal year ended March 31, 2010 | 104,251 (-36.0%) | 612 (-94.1%) | -895 (-------) |
Notes: Listed values less than one million yen are rounded off.
Percentage figures represent comparisons to the third quarter period of the previous fiscal year.
While the Great Tohoku Earthquake caused no injuries among TADANO Group personnel and only minor damage to Group property, the present conditions make it difficult to forecast how parts procurement issues may affect production. As a result, business-performance forecasts have yet to be determined.
Plans call for release of forecasts of business performance as soon as circumstances permit.
While the Japanese economy saw improving corporate revenue and recovering capital investment during this fiscal year, employment conditions remained harsh. The economy began to stagnate in the fall due to various factors, including a strengthening yen and the fading effects of economic stimulus measures. The Great Tohoku Earthquake struck at a time when exports and production showed signs of recovery, starting from the end of the calendar year, and when the economy itself was showing signs of self-sustaining recovery, albeit weak.
Domestic demand for construction cranes recovered, albeit weakly. While demand showed signs of recovery in certain markets, general overseas demand in the key markets of Europe and North America fell by one-half.
Amid such dramatic changes in economic conditions, the TADANO Group has sought to secure sales by expanding market share; cut costs through continued Super Value Engineering (SVE) activities; cut total labor costs; and thoroughly reduced expenses and rationalized inventories. At the end of the fiscal year, part of the Shido Plant's production lines ceased operating for one week due to parts-procurement difficulties resulting from the Great Tohoku Earthquake.
Led by growth in construction crane sales, truck loader cranes, and aerial work platforms, domestic sales rose 7.2% over the previous fiscal year to 51,530 million yen. Plummeting demand, intensifying competition, and a stronger yen resulted in a dramatic decline in overseas sales to 38,277 million yen, down 31.9 % from the previous fiscal year. Total sales fell 13.9% from the previous fiscal year to 89,807 million yen. Overseas sales accounted for 42.6% of total sales.
Despite efforts to reduce total labor costs and cut expenses, declining gross margins attributable to declining sales, combined with falling sale prices, rising raw material costs, and falling operating ratios resulted in operating losses of 3,733 million yen, compared to operating profits of 612 million yen for the previous fiscal year. Net losses totaled 6,722 million yen, compared to net losses of 895 million yen for the previous fiscal year, in part due to the booking of 1,981 million yen in Write-down of investment securities; impairment losses of 1,689 million yen, mainly in connection with U.S. subsidiary TADANO MANTIS Corp.; and extraordinary losses, including 1,239 million yen in losses due to reforms in the retirement benefits system.
Outline of Key Product Lines
Construction Cranes
Efforts to identify new demand amid a weak demand recovery resulted in domestic sales of 19,866 million yen, up 6.2% from the previous fiscal year.
A rapid decline in demand and a stronger yen led to overseas sales of 27,574 million yen, down 41.3% from the previous fiscal year.
Construction crane sales totaled 47,440 million yen, down 27.8% from the previous fiscal year.
Truck Loader Cranes
As demand for trucks recovered due to developments such as growing demand for improved emissions performance, efforts to expand sales of new models offering improved mileage and quality resulted in a 12.1% increase in domestic sales of truck loader cranes over the previous fiscal year to 7,148 million yen.
Overseas sales rose from 432 million yen for the previous fiscal year to 988 million yen this year, thanks to efforts to expand sales in CIS, Southeast Asia, and other markets.
Sales of truck loader cranes totaled 8,137 million yen, up 19.5% from the previous fiscal year.
Aerial Work Platforms
Despite weak demand in the telecommunications sector and largely unchanged demand in the power and electric sectors, sales of aerial work platforms rose 21.8% from the previous fiscal year to 10,088 million yen, mainly in the Japanese market, due to efforts to expand market share. Demand in the rental industry sector also rose.
Others
Sales of parts, repairs, used cranes, and other products and services were 24,141 million yen, up 3.0% from the previous fiscal year.
Despite concerns about the effects of the Great Tohoku Earthquake and possible summertime electric power shortages, we expect the Japanese economy to overcome declines in production experienced during the first half of the fiscal year and to begin moving toward recovery in the second half, backed by growth in exports and demand from earthquake recovery efforts. Overseas, the U.S. economy is projected to see a gentle recovery. The European economy is also projected to recover, while emerging markets such as China are expected to continue driving the world economy.
In the markets in which the TADANO Group operates, despite sluggish recovery in European markets, we expect overseas demand to recover as North American markets begin to recover and various projects, including energy-related projects, drive demand for construction cranes, the Group's primary product. We expect scheduled equipment replacements to lead to some recovery in domestic demand. Although domestic demand for truck loader cranes is expected to fall, domestic demand for aerial work platforms is projected to recover.
Under its "11-13" medium-term business plan taking effect from the 2011 fiscal year, the TADANO Group will seek to be an enterprise capable of adapting to structural changes in markets and of withstanding market fluctuations. The Group will do this by implementing the following seven strategies, grouped into three business strategies, two competitiveness strategies, and two infrastructure strategies.