A year of big changes for Cargotec

Hiab is the new name for Cargotec, as from 1 April 2025. Photo: Hiab

For the full year 2024 orders received at Cargotec increased by 3 per cent, to €1.509 billion, up from €1.466 billion in 2023.

Sales for the year, however, were down by 8 % to €1.647 billion, from €1.787 billion a year earlier. At the end of 2024 the order backlog was €648 million, down 19 % from €799 million at the end of 2023.

Operating profit for 2024 was €217 million or 13.2 % of sales, compared to 12.3 % the year before. For 2025 the company forecasts the comparable operating profit margin to be more than 12 %.

Major changes

The above figures were achieved in a year of major changes at the group. At the beginning of 2024, with the Kalmar segment separated from Cargotec as a standalone business, it was classed as a discontinued operation from 1 February and was first listed separately on the stock market in July.

In November an agreement was signed to sell the MacGregor offshore crane division for €480 million. This deal is expected to close by 1 July 2025 at the latest. It just leaves crane and materials handling equipment manufacturer Hiab as the one reporting segment of Cargotec.

In light of the above it is proposed to change the name from Cargotec to Hiab on 1 April 2025. Also from the first quarter, this will be split into two reporting segments: Equipment, and Services.

President’s review

Commenting on the Hiab move Casimir Lindholm, Cargotec president and CEO, said, “I’m convinced that Hiab will have a bright future as a standalone company. Hiab has a clear strategy that was revealed in the Capital Markets Day in May and a motivated and experienced leadership team in place.”

On the financial results Lindholm said, “The year 2024 was a successful one for Cargotec. We executed the transformation of the company according to the targets set by the Board in 2023. We reached all our major goals for the year, continued the good business performance, completed the separation of Hiab and Kalmar, and found a solution for MacGregor.”