Bell Equipment’s short to medium term priorities are to grow the Bell ADT and associated parts and service volumes in the active global markets by increasing the group’s dealer network coverage.

Bell Equipment North America, together with parts supplied directly to this market from the parts warehouses in South Africa and Germany, more than doubled their contribution to the group’s turnover in 2015. With nearly 12% of sales now delivered from the region, this is a significant gain on the 1,5% of just three years ago.

“We believe that with our new range of competitive E-series articulated dump trucks (ADTs) we have good prospects for growth over the next two years.Although sales in Europe were depressed, the demand for machinery in the United Kingdom, largely driven by construction industry related demand, met expectations.  The European region remains a key market for ADT sales and we are satisfied with the level of acceptance that our products have achieved in this highly competitive market,” says Gary Bell, Bell Equipment chief executive.

In South Africa sales revenue decreased by 16% and contributed 41% of group sales in 2015, compared with 43% in 2014. Similarly sales from the rest of Africa contracted by 10% for the year under review although the contribution to external group sales remained unchanged at 15% for 2014 and 2015.

Equipment Africa says: South Africa’s leading OEM and global ADT specialist, Bell Equipment has weathered tough operating conditions in 2015 to record a profit after tax of R169-million for 2015, a 154% increase compared with 2014. The improvement is mainly due to the group’s right-sizing and cost reduction actions, higher production volumes in 2015 as well as exchange rate gains through the weakening Rand.