Large infrastructure projects in the emirates are set to boost the sales outlook for the provider of lifts to Abu Dhabi's Yas Mall and Dubai International Airport.
The UAE will this year provide double-digit growth for ThyssenKrupp Elevator (TKE), the lifts and mechanised walkways unit of the global steelmaking and engineering company ThyssenKrupp, its chief said.
At the unveiling of plans for TKE's US$45 million ultra high-tech lift testing tower, set to be the tallest building in Germany, the unit's chief executive, Andreas Schierenbeck, forecast sales to rise faster in the UAE than the rest of the Middle East as the construction boom accelerated.
"I certainly think we will see a 10 to 12 per cent increase in Abu Dhabi and Dubai sales for ThyssenKrupp Elevator over the course of this year," he said.
"The Middle East lift market is growing at 6 per cent a year, from ?1.49 billion in 2013 and we expect the market value to hit ?2.11bn in 2019."
He said the strong recovery of the UAE's economy, especially the property sector, was fuelling TKE's bright outlook, "mainly driven by new construction, which represented more than 60 per cent of TKE's total demand in 2013".
"The rest is largely constituted by modernisation projects and maintenance services," he added.
It is good news for the company and its parent, which was hard hit by the global downturn in steel demand, losing almost ?14bn in market value since 2008.
Fiscal first-quarter earnings for ThyssenKrupp this year beat estimates as revenue from non-steel businesses increased. Adjusted earnings from operations before interest and taxes more than doubled to ?247m, exceeding a Bloomberg average estimate of ?218.7m - although this quarter may disappoint on the steel business in the Americas, analysts say.
Earnings for the three months to the end of December, the company's fiscal first quarter, "look good", Marc Gabriel, an analyst at Bankhaus Lampe, said after they were released last month.
For the group's fiscal second quarter, adjusted EBIT is expected to further improve quarter-on-quarter, the Financial Times said.
"Full year, ThyssenKrupp aims to achieve ?1bn in adjusted EBIT," the company said.
For TKE the outlook is equally robust, with the UAE set to give it a further boost, Mr Schierenbeck said, adding that experience the company had with major developments here kept it in good stead.
"For Abu Dhabi's Yas Mall, ThyssenKrupp Elevator supplied 95 elevators and 38 escalators," he said.
"At Dubai International Airport, we supplied 350 elevators, 165 escalators, 125 moving walkways and 123 [for airport-to-aircraft] passenger bridges, including 25 for the Airbus A380.
"With Abu Dhabi Airport's Midfield Terminal, Al Maktoum International Airport and metro projects in Doha and Riyadh ... the demand for mobility projects is set to rise to keep pace with the expanding infrastructure," he said.
To take advantage of that opportunity, TKE will increase hiring.
"We plan to expand [the UAE workforce] from 1,700 last year to 2,300 by 2019," Mr Schierenbeck said.
"ThyssenKrupp Elevator's future in the Middle East looks more than promising."
chnelson@thenational.ae
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