Finnish glass technology company Glaston has said its Q2 business results were unsatisfactory.
Its CEO, Arto Metsänen, said economic uncertainty was to blame for the performance, which saw the group make an operating loss of €2.4 million for the first half of the year.
Mr Metsänen said: “Economic uncertainty was reflected in business activity. Customers’ caution was evident in delayed decision-making, with transactions being shifted to the latter part of the year, and in the postponement of orders already agreed.”
He said in Q2 2012 its market slowed. Market growth leveled off in Asia, the EMEA market remained challenging. There was promise in the Americas, with North America’s glass processing machine market showing signs of recovery.
It reduced capacity in Asia and reduced staff numbers in Asia and Brazil. There were also a number of senior management changes effective from July 2012.
Mr Metsänen concluded: “Despite the weak start to the year, we continue to believe that we will achieve our net sales and operating profit targets for the full year, due to our order book, competitive product range and cost-efficient operations."
