Epiroc sees strong demand after profit just misses forecast

Mining gear maker Epiroc reported operating earnings slightly below market expectations on Wednesday but forecast demand in the near term would remain at a high level.

The global mining industry – equipment makers as well as their customers – has benefited from rising raw materials prices while at the same time contending with climbing overall cost inflation, above all for energy.

Second-quarter operating profit at the Swedish company rose 9% from a year earlier to 2.38 billion crowns ($232.9 million) against a mean analyst forecast of 2.79 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

The profit included a provision of 400 million crowns related to Russia. Epiroc had previously announced it was suspending all deliveries to customers in Russia, which accounted for around 6% of the group’s total sales in 2021.

Order intake rose to 13.4 billion crowns, up 6% organically from the year-earlier quarter, and shares in the company rose 2.7% by 0952 GMT.

Sandvik, Epiroc’s top rival, reported earnings last week with its mining unit posting a 9% organic rise in quarterly order intake.

($1 = 10.2199 Swedish crowns)

(By Helena Soderpalm; Editing by Niklas Pollard)