Doosan Bobcat

Doosan Bobcat Opens Backhoe Loader Plant in India

Doosan Bobcat has opened its new backhoe loader plant in India, thus marking its entrance into one of the world’s three largest markets for compact construction equipment industry.
On June 4, Doosan Bobcat President and CEO Scott Park visited the new backhoe loader plant in India, where he checked the progress of the business. Doosan Bobcat took over this plant last month, which has a site area of 80,000㎡ and a factory floor area of 15,000㎡, and is capable of producing 8,000 machines a year.
Doosan Bobcat has entered the backhoe loader market in a bid to expand its emerging market portfolio with the aim of exploring mid- and long-term growth engines. India’s compact equipment market is the third largest in the world after the US and China, with an estimated worth of KRW 1.3 trillion, where the backhoe loader sales account for more than 80%. Since 2014, the Indian backhoe loader market has grown at an average annual rate of 9.7%.
Doosan Bobcat has acquired idle facilities to produce backhoe loaders in India to minimize its risk of investment. By dramatically shortening the period from preparation time to shipping time compared to the time taken to establish an entirely new plant, the company will be able to start releasing its first batch of backhoe loaders in the second half of next year. They will then focus on marketing activities targeting the Indian market in a bid to expand its market share.
Doosan Bobcat President and CEO Scott Park said: “With government-led infrastructure investment increasing in recent years, the compact market is growing rapidly in India, making it a highly attractive market. Our mid and long-term goal, beginning with backhoe loaders, is to lead the Indian small construction machinery market.”
Among the diverse activities it conducted last year, Doosan Bobcat unveiled Earth Force, a locally tailored brand for China compact market, to make inroads into emerging markets.

2018-06-05

Doosan Bobcat repays $100 million in advance thanks to robust performance

Doosan Bobcat announced on May 15 that it had settled the fifth installment of $100 million of its borrowings in advance on May 14 (U.S. time). It borrowed $1.7 billion in 2014, of which it has so far repaid $520 million in five installments, including the most recent repayment.
Due to the robustness of global markets and its bolstered product competitiveness, Doosan Bobcat has seen a steady increase in its performance, resulting in a dramatic improvement of its financial structure.
With this early repayment, Doosan Bobcat is set to simultaneously reduce its interest costs and increase its net profits. Thanks to its robust performance, Doosan Bobcat has adjusted its refinancing interest rate, improved its credit rating, and lowered its American income tax, thus reporting an impressive 36 percent rise in its annual net profits since 2015.
Doosan Bobcat reported sales of $812 million, an operating profit of $88 million, and a net profit of $58 million in Q1 2018, up 20.3 percent, 19.8 percent, and 60.6 percent, respectively, from the same period last year.
“In recent years, we have made positive investments in a drive to boost sales, posted excellent sales figures, and secured a good cash flow, which has allowed us to complete the early repayment of our borrowings,” a Doosan Bobcat executive said, adding, “By unveiling new products and enhancing our productivity, we are determined to further strengthen our profit foundation in advanced markets and expand our product lineups to emerging markets such as India and China so as to further consolidate our position as a global leader in the small equipment markets.”


[Reference] Doosan Bobcat’s early repayment of borrowings by year



Year
Early repayment




2014
$100 million


2016
$120 million


2016
$100 million


2017
$100 million


2018
$100 million

2018-05-15

Doosan Bobcat North America Acceleration Center officially LEED certified

Doosan Bobcat North America is pleased to announce that the Acceleration Center – a key engineering facility for all Bobcat® compact equipment – is now Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified. Located in Bismarck, North Dakota, the Acceleration Center is currently one of only a few test lab facilities of its kind in North America to achieve LEED certification – the most widely used green building rating system in the world and a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement.
The state-of-the art building earned high marks across several categories, including design and innovation and indoor environmental quality. From the lobby entrance to office environment, the facility was truly designed for accelerated innovation.
“We created a collaborative, open office workspace that not only gives our employees an inspiring place to work, but also rewards our environment,” said Matt Sagaser, director of innovation accelerated at Doosan Bobcat North America. “The facility has more natural light, better acoustics, key vitality areas, multiple flex work areas with mobile work stations, and outdoor parking spaces for low-emission vehicles. These designs helped us pursue LEED certification.”
Doosan Bobcat completed the $28 million renovation project in 2015, which involved the expansion of an existing building to include office and lab space, classrooms and demonstration areas, and both indoor and outdoor machine operation areas. The facility has two stories and 190,000 square feet under one roof, with an additional 22 acres of outdoor test and product development space. In addition, the space is equipped with modern devices, tools and software systems that expedite leading-edge engineering, and product and process development to meet customers’ growing needs.
“A great deal of care was used in the design and building of the Acceleration Center, with a major focus on sustainability,” said Rich Goldsbury, president of Doosan Bobcat North America. “This beautiful facility helps fulfill the vision for our company, stimulates breakthroughs in technology, and serves as the focal point of innovation, solidifying Doosan Bobcat as a global leader in the compact equipment industry.”

2018-04-09

Doosan Bobcat Adjusts Interest Rate on Loans, Lifts Profitability Again

Based on its robust sales record, Doosan Bobcat is emerging as a highly profitable company by taking such proactive measures as early debt repayment, refinancing and interest rate adjustment.
On March 5, Doosan Bobcat announced that it had succeeded in pushing for an adjustment of its interest rate on its corporate loans totaling $1.24 billion (about KRW 1.3 trillion), which means that the company could save as much as $6 million in financing costs in 2018 alone. Doosan Bobcat has seen its spread drop by 1.81 percent in just 10 months, including 0.5 percent (50 basis points) in the latest adjustment, which amounts to $24 million in interest savings on an annual basis.
Doosan Bobcat has worked consistently to reduce its financing costs through early repayment and refinancing arrangements. Since 2014, the company has made early repayments on four occasions for a total amount of $420 million. In May 2017, it refinanced its Term Loan B* loans with U.S. institutional investors and banks and lowered its previous interest rate by as much as 1.1 percent.
In November 2017, Moody's Investor Service raised Doosan Bobcat's credit rating from B1 to Ba3, leading to an additional decrease of 25 basis points (0.25 percent) in its interest rate.
Based on its abundant cash flow backed by the strong housing market in North America and steady improvements in its business performance, Doosan Bobcat has succeeded in making early repayments and refinancing arrangements as well as adjusting its interest rate. In line with rapid improvements in its profitability and financial structure, Doosan Bobcat has achieved average annual growth rates of 6.2 percent and 32.3 percent in operating profit and net income, respectively, since 2013. Most notably, the annual net income of Doosan Bobcat increased by 55.8 percent to $242.08 million in 2017.
"The latest interest rate adjustment is a positive outcome of the company's continuous efforts to secure financial soundness and maximize corporate profitability amid external circumstances characterized by interest rate hikes and financial market volatility," said an official of Doosan Bobcat. "Given the current cash flow, Doosan Bobcat is most likely to reach net cash** by 2020."

2018-03-05

Doosan Bobcat wins Pin Up Design Awards 2017

Doosan Bobcat announced on Jan. 17 that it was awarded the highest prize, “Best of the Best” at the Pin Up Design Awards 2017. The company is the first construction equipment maker to receive this prestigious award.
The Pin Up Design Awards, celebrating its 21st year, is an annual design competition hosted by the Korea Association of Industrial Designers and sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It is recognized as one of the country’s three major design awards along with the Korea Design Award and the Good Design Award.
The Doosan Bobcat E85 mini excavator, which was honored with the top prize this year, was well-received for its design that accurately reflects the product concept: a tough, agile and versatile compact machine. The E85 model was unveiled at last year’s ConExpo, North America’s largest construction trade show, and since has enjoyed a good response in the market thanks to not only its great design, but also the improved stability, power, performance, visibility and telematics system it offers.
“This valuable achievement came from close global collaboration between Doosan Bobcat’s NA engineering team and Doosan Infracore’s design team,” a Doosan Bobcat official said. “We will continue such efforts to develop products that are both excellent in design and quality.”

2018-01-17