Sandvik announced recently that it has decided to initiate divestment of its Mining Systems business, a separate product area within Sandvik Mining and a supplier of design and engineering for material handling systems for the mining industry. In 2014, the Mining Systems operations, with 1,300 employees, had annual sales of SEK 6.3 billion ($765 million) representing 7% of Sandvik Group invoicing, and an operating loss was reported at a low single digit level.
“Divestment of Mining Systems will make Sandvik Mining more focused on its core operations, mining equipment and aftermarket offerings for both underground and surface mines, which Sandvik will continue to develop to ensure long-term value creation,” said Mats Backman, CFO and acting president and CEO for Sandvik.
The company said that from Q3 2015 and until closure of the divestment, Mining Systems operations will be reported as discontinued operations in the Sandvik Group financial statements. A nonrecurring charge of 1 billion SEK related to Mining Systems will impact the result for the third quarter of 2015. This includes write-downs related to projects, other provisions for project-related costs and impairment within Mining Systems.
