© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Swiss elevator maker Schindler is seen during the annual news conference in Zurich, Switzerland February 14, 2020. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
(Reuters) -Swiss elevator and escalator maker Schindler said on Wednesday it expects low single-digit revenue growth in local currencies for 2023, citing an ongoing global economic slowdown and the pressure on real estate and construction sectors.
The company anticipates new installation markets, including China, to decline further, and said it expects modernization and service markets to keep growing across all regions.
China makes up around 17% of Schindler sales.
“The improvements over the last two quarters indicate that our recovery is in motion,” Chief Executive Officer Silvio Napoli said in a statement.
China’s real estate sector, which is responsible for broadly one-third of its gross domestic product (GDP), was one of the biggest drags on the country’s economy last year.
Economic growth in China in 2022 slumped to one of its weakest rates in nearly half a century, hit by a property market slump and by pandemic controls and COVID-19 outbreaks that especially affected the second and the fourth quarters.
The company’s fourth-quarter net profit was 178 million Swiss francs ($192 million), beating analysts’ estimates of 170 million francs.
Its fourth-quarter order intake declined by 4.3% to 2.99 billion francs, below last year’s 3.13 billion francs. However, it beat the 2.88 billion francs estimate provided in a company-provided consensus.
Schindler also said it would propose an unchanged dividend of 4.00 Swiss francs per share.
($1 = 0.9269 Swiss francs)
