Epiroc president and CEO Helena Hedblom is upbeat about the company’s trading prospects in 2021 after praising its ability to adapt in response to coronavirus-induced challenges.
The Swedish-headquartered supplier of innovative equipment, consumables and services for drilling and rock excavation across global industries such as quarrying and mining, saw its 2020 operating profit increase by 10% to SEK 2,212 million (€209.51mn). The company’s orders increased by 1% to SEK 9,329mn (€925.46mn). Meanwhile, revenues decreased 5% to SEK 9,806mn (€972.78mn).
“The Covid-19 pandemic affected us significantly in 2020, yet we managed to adapt our way of working, lower our costs, prioritised innovation, show resilience in our profitability, and deliver a solid result. We did this while prioritising health and safety and supporting our customers in this unique and challenging situation. I am proud to see the way our organisation has been able to adapt to the situation,” said Hedblom.
“Automation, digitalisation and electrification solutions are in high demand, and we connect more and more machines. We continue to win orders, and we are proud of our market-leading solutions that are globally deployed and proven. They enable increased productivity, safety and sustainability for our customers.”
Hedblom said Epiroc would continue to invest heavily in research and development to remain “the technology leader”.
She continued: “In Q4 [2020] we agreed to acquire MineRP that supports large and medium-sized mines in optimising their operational efficiency by providing a leading software platform solution that integrates all technical mining data.
“Our strategy is to be the market leader in our selected niches, and we continue to prioritise innovation, aftermarket, operational excellence and sustainability. Our innovation agenda goes hand-in-hand with our customers’ sustainability agenda, which creates many opportunities for us.
“I see Epiroc as an enabler in the transition towards sustainable mining and infrastructure. By offering best-in-class solutions – with automation, digitalisation, and electrification – and always being close to our customers, we will further strengthen the relationships with our customers and make Epiroc even stronger.”
