Orano warns of financial problems at Niger uranium plant
The West African nation increasingly seeks new partners, such as Russia, in its mining sector.
Swedish mining gear maker Epiroc reported first-quarter operating earnings below market expectations on Wednesday, sending its shares down more than 4%.
Operating earnings at the firm rose to 1.87 billion Swedish crowns ($223.2 million) from 1.93 billion a year earlier, lagging the 2.13 billion average analyst forecast according to Refinitiv data. Earnings included negative one-off items of 149 million crowns.
Epiroc said order intake reached 10.7 billion crowns in the quarter, up 21% on a like-for-like basis from the year-earlier quarter, as customer activity remained high despite the negative impact from the pandemic in many markets.
“We expect that the demand, both for equipment and aftermarket, will remain at a stable high level in the near term,” Epiroc Chief Executive Helena Hedblom said in a statement.
Epiroc shares, down around 2% ahead of the report, fell back following the results to trade 4.5% lower by 1123 GMT. The shares were up around 30% this year as of Tuesday’s close.
Sandvik, Epiroc’s top rival, reported earnings last week where its mining unit recorded a 36% like-for-like rise in quarterly order bookings.
($1 = 8.3787 Swedish crowns)
(By Helena Soderpalm; Editing by Johan Ahlander and Niklas Pollard)
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