UT suffers sharp drop in heavy equipment sales

By Thomas R. Sembiring

IDX-listed heavy equipment company PT United Tractors Tbk saw a sharp drop in heavy equipment sales during the first quarter of this year due to the lingering downturn in the mining sector.

?In the first quarter, our (sales of heavy equipment) dropped. As of March 2015 UT?s sales totaled only 763 units,? said newly-appointed President Director of the company Gidion Hasan on Tuesday.

In comparison, he said, sales in the first quarter of 2014 totaled 1,211 units.

He added that the company?s share of the domestic heavy equipment market also shrank to 37.6 percent from 42 percent.

While sales in the infrastructure sector has yet to be able to compensate for the slowdown in the mining sector as the government has yet to implement planned infrastructure projects, he explained.

Corporate Secretary Sara Loebis said that the final first quarter results were expected to be announced next week.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak