16.05.2011

Skyjack up 94%

The Industrial division of Linamar, which is largely made up of Skyjack, saw revenues almost double in the first quarter.

First quarter revenues were $66.3 million although the division remained in the red with a loss of $2 million compared to a loss of $6.3 million for the same quarter last year. Much of the loss was generated by a substantial step up in investment as the company ramps up its product development and other areas in preparation for future growth.

Linamar as a whole saw revenues climb 32.2 percent to $675.2 million, with net earnings of 24.9 million compared to $23.4 million last year.

Linamar chief executive Linda Hasenfratz said: “We are very pleased with our first quarter results which have positioned 2011 well with a strong start. Sales and earnings are up substantially again despite moderate vehicle market growth, content per vehicle is growing and we continue to see great opportunities in the vehicle market place both for short term and long term business as evidenced by our considerable launch book that just keeps growing. And of course we couldn’t be more pleased to see Skyjack performing very well on markets that are significantly up over last year.”

Vertikal Comment

Skyjack has weathered the recession well, it has added to its distribution network and continued to build its reputation of being easy and friendly to deal with. All this in spite of going through two presidents in that time – which in itself represents exceptional stability.

The company is well placed to gain some market share as the upturn gathers pace, its only drawback is the fact that it slowed the development of new products, however most of its competitors did too, either in order to re-engineer for new engines or as a cost cutting exercise. So it has not lost too much by this.
The challenge now will be to develop the planned new products and updates soon enough to get a decent payback before the new cycle peaks.

Overall another positive set of results