Orders from China, top tire makers buoy VMI

Haaksbergen, The Netherlands – Dutch tire and rubber machinery maker VMI is on track for strong growth this year, parent TKH Group reported in a first-half results statement.

VMI is a key part of Haaksbergen-based TKH’s Industrial Solutions segment, which also supplies speciailty cable and plug-and-play cable systems for sectors including robotics, medical and machine-building .

In the first six months, turnover in this segment increased by 9.2% to €319.0 million, said the 15 Aug report. Earnings (EBITA) lifted 24.6% to €40.9 million on higher turnover and production capacity utilisation.

The segment benefited from “continued recovery” of order intake from China, as well as growth in market-share among the world’s top five tire makers, TKH said.

More particularly, TKH noted that its order book was “filled with relatively large number of new machines, among others MILEXX (VMI’s recently launched truck-tire-building machine) and customer-specific developments for the top five tire manufacturers.”

In the second quarter, segment order-intake amounted to € 114 million – H1 2017: € 228 million – in line with the first quarter, the group reported.

“In line with the first quarter, a high order intake was booked in tire-building industry,” commented Alexander van der Lof, chief executive officer of TKH.

“The recovery from China continues and our market share in the top five tire manufacturers has expanded, which gives confidence for further growth,” van der Lof added.

Looking to the second half of the year, the TKH boss forecast sales at the Industrial Solutions segment to increase compared to the first half of the year.