Record order intake and improved revenue and profit

“Our commitment to our strategic priorities, together with the strong demand recovery from the downturn caused by the pandemic during last year, resulted in a record order intake for the first quarter”, said Mats Rahmström. “A large part was due to increased demand for vacuum equipment to the semiconductor industry, but all business areas achieved good growth for both equipment and service.”

Orders received in the first quarter grew to MSEK 30 468 (28 039), an organic growth of 18%. Revenues increased 4% to MSEK 26 021 (25 098), an organic growth of 13%.

The adjusted operating profit, excluding items affecting comparability, increased 11% to MSEK 5 649 (5 099), corresponding to a margin of 21.7% (20.3). Return on capital employed was 23% (29), negatively affected by recent acquisitions.

“I am very pleased to see how our strong efforts and focus, despite the challenging environment, are paying off”, said Mats Rahmström. “To continuously invest in R&D, as well as increasing our presence in segments and markets where we see long-term potential, are fundamental parts of our strategy for growth. That’s how we improve our customer’s technologies and processes and drive development forward, which is what we are all about”. 

Looking ahead, in the near-term, although the world’s economic development remains uncertain, Atlas Copco expects that the customers’ business activity level will remain at the high current level.