The Supervisory Board of Demag Cranes AG recently granted approval for the restructuring measures proposed by the Management Board. The restructuring will involve up to 750 job cuts worldwide. In the current financial year, provisions in mid-range double-digit euro millions will be made to implement these measures to achieve significant savings in the following years to ensure that the group will be able to meet the challenges of the future.

These measures by the Management Board are in response to the worsening economic and financial crisis, which has had adverse consequences for the business development of the Demag Cranes Group.

Because the crane and material handling sectors are affected late in the economic cycle, the Demag Cranes Group is feeling the full impact of the global economic and financial crisis with a delay of around six months. As a result, group order intake in the second quarter of financial year 2008/2009 was down by more than 40 percent from the previous year. As the extent and duration of the crisis still cannot be predicted, these packages of measures will now be implemented to secure the financial stability of the group on the basis of its sound balance sheet, the company said. In particular, it is necessary to lower the break-even points in order to improve the group’s ability to operate in a highly competitive environment.

The Demag Cranes Group is a leading supplier of industrial cranes and crane components, harbor cranes and terminal automation technology.