05.08.2011

Order intake surge at Bronto

Finnish based truck mounted lift manufacturer Bronto has reported a strong surge in order intake for the first half.

Order intake in the first six months was $66.8 million, 30 percent higher than in the same period last year, while order intake in the second quarter leapt 55 percent to $30.6 million. The improved intake is down to a pick-up in European Fire fighting orders and strong sales of regular platforms, particularly in the USA.

While order intake grew solidly, revenues and profits fell back due to slower order intake at the end of last year and the start of this. Total revenues for the six months were $45.9 million, 16 percent down on the year, while operating income fell from $3.6 million last year to $1.5 million this year.

The second quarter showed a similar story, with revenues down 17 percent to $24.7 million, while operating income dipped to $700,000 from $2.8 million in 2010, due to a weaker product mix in terms of margins and the lower overall volume.

Bronto is a subsidiary of us based Federal Signal, which reported overall revenues fro the six months up five percent to $378 million, while pre-tax profits came in at $700,000 compared to a loss in the same period last year of $6.5 million.

Federal Signal chief executive Dennis Martin said: "I am pleased to report that we experienced continued improvement in our businesses in the second quarter. Revenues and profits increased significantly versus Q1 and both were above year-ago levels. In addition, the positive trend in orders is an encouraging sign for continued improvement in the second half of 2011 and into 2012."

"We are making good progress toward our goals of driving margin and cash flow improvement across all of the businesses in our portfolio. We expect Bronto's strong order backlog and production efficiency efforts to generate double-digit margins in the second half of the year. Our focus on cash flow enabled us to reduce our net debt by $10 million in the quarter. While we still have work to do, I feel confident that we are definitely on the right track."

Vertikal Comment

Bronto has had a ‘good recession’ compared to most other powered access manufacturers, thanks to its differing cycle and the fact that it started with a very strong and varied order book. However the past nine months or so have been tougher, while the future was looking uncertain given the world wide public sector cuts that are yet to impact.

The fact that it has bounced back so soon and so strongly is very positive news, it is also good to see the surge in orders for fire fighting platforms at this point. The company is looking well placed to make gains in market share at the same time as specific market sectors in which it excels – such as large insulated platforms and those for the wind sector – look set to grow significantly.

After some uncertainty about its future within Federal Signal, the company may just be ‘on a roll’ with several good years ahead - what this space.