Doosan Bobcat

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

Doosan Bobcat Launches Earthforce by Bobcat in China

Doosan Bobcat celebrated the official product launch of Earthforce, a newly branded series of skid-steer loaders designed to penetrate the Chinese and emerging markets. Doosan Bobcat now has 10 manufacturing facilities in 5 countries: U.S., France, the Czech Republic, India, and China
Earthforce is a sub-brand of Doosan Bobcat, developed to meet the needs of customers in China and emerging markets. The basic design and major components of the Earthforce products strictly conform to the standards of the Bobcat brand to ensure performance and durability. At the same time, components that do not influence the key performance of the products are manufactured or supplied locally in order to lower the production costs.
There are two Earthforce skid-steer loader models—S16 and S18—and they are manufactured at the Suzhou Plant in China. Skid-steer loaders are usually used for small-scale construction projects or for moving things around on farms and ranches, and Doosan Bobcat plans to increase its market share in the farming and construction equipment industry in China, Russia and other emerging markets.
In 2016, Doosan Bobcat recorded $186 million in sales in Asia and Latin America. The share of sales in emerging markets was 5 to 6 percent of its total sales. According to Off-highway Research, a management consultancy specializing in the research and analysis of international construction, the Chinese skid-steer loader market is expected to grow by more than 12 percent annually by 2021.
“At the beginning of mass production, we will focus on raising awareness of compact construction equipment in the Chinese market through product briefings and training," said an official of Doosan Bobcat. "Then we will launch Earthforce in other major emerging countries to gradually increase new demand."
Doosan Bobcat has also recently introduced a series of new products, the R-Series excavators and M2-Setries loaders, to North America and Europe in Q1 and Q2 2017 to further strengthen its leading position in developed markets.

2017-06-20