11.05.2010

Palfinger optimistic

Austrian based crane and access manufacturer Palfinger has reported a return to profit in the first quarter in spite of falling revenues

Revenues for the period were €129.4 million, a fall of 7.8 percent compared to the same quarter last year, but 10 percent up on the last quarter of 2009.

Revenues from European operations fell 15 percent to €98.8 million while revenues elsewhere grew 27 percent to €30.6 million, mostly from North and South America. The results do not include the recent acquisition of US based access company ETI which was completed at the end of March and which has revenues of around $45 million.

The company no longer breaks revenues out by product, at least on a quarterly basis, but does say that loader crane orders picked up during the quarter particularly in Germany, Austria, France, Belgium and Sweden. With A smaller order book Palfinger Platforms did not do as well, but previous restructuring did produce an improvement in profits.

The group’s profitability is still being driven by its European operations which generated an operating profit of €9 million compared to a loss of €3.9 million from operations elsewhere – a significant increase on last year due to restructuring and integration costs in North America.
Strong cash flow allowed Palfinger to reduce net debt to €146.5 million compared to €151.9 million last year.

Palfinger chief executive Herbert Ortner, said: “In 2009 we were a very active player on the market despite the drop in business. This enabled us to consolidate our market position – not only in comparison with our competitors – and to start off into the first months of 2010 with new momentum. We are still a long way from achieving pre-crisis levels, but we are seeing continuous improvement, both on the market and in our key performance indicators”.

“A comparison with the fourth quarter 2009, shows for the first time since 2008 a plus in revenue of 10.2 percent. In the fourth quarter 2009, EBIT amounted to €1million. The increase of more than 200 percent recorded in the first quarter 2010 is primarily due to rising revenues.”

Outlook

Palfinger says that is not yet in a position to make reliable forecasts for the full year as markets are expected to be increasingly volatile. However it expects revenues to pick up slightly in almost all sectors leading to organic growth in revenues of 10 to 15 percent.