Germany-based plantmaker
SMS Group has announced that in 2014 its order intake declined by 4.3 percent to €3.16 billion, while the company's sales amounted to €3.4 billion, remaining stable, both compared to the previous year.
In the given year,
SMS Group registered a pre-tax profit of €31 million, down 82.6 percent year on year, due to restructuring expenses.
"Up until the beginning of this year, our customers' hopes of a bottoming-out of the steel market led us to expect positive impacts on our business. However, due to the global overcapacities, our customers remain reluctant to invest in new plants. What is more, the enduring political uncertainty in our important sales markets of Russia and Ukraine is depressing our business even more," Stated Burkhard Dahmen, spokesman for
SMS Group.