JCB expects significant sales improvement

JCB, the digger and Teletruk manufacturer, is expecting to see significant gains in both sales and profitability this year.
The manufacturer has suffered hugely during the downturn, yet managed to post pre-tax profits of £29 million for 2009, up from £28 million the year before.

Turnover, at £1.35bn, was down by a third.

JCB’s global market fell by 46% last year.

In the last two years, JCB, which employs about 4,000 people, has axed about 1,800 employees to cut costs and keep production levels down.

Sir Anthony said that during the first half of the year the construction industry had seen a “strong recovery” in emerging markets such as India, China and Brazil, although the traditional markets of Western Europe and the U.S. remain weak.

He added: “On balance, we expect to see a significant improvement in both sales and profits this year compared to 2009.”