13.08.2012

Skyjack jumps 74%

The industrial sector of Linamar- largely Skyjack has reported a 74.3 percent increase in first half revenues.

Total revenues for the first six months were $289.9 million up 74.3 percent on the same period last year. Operating profits improved from a $1.5 million loss in 2011 to a profit this year of $21.5 million.

Looking at the second quarter revenues improved 48.6 percent to $148.6 million, while operating profits were $15 million, compared to just $500,000 last year.

The increase in Industrial operating earnings was predominantly driven by margin improvements on the increased volumes in the access equipment market and favourable mix towards higher margin sales; partially offset by launch costs associated with the energy programmes.

Linamar as a whole saw first half sales increase by over 19 percent to $1.69 billion, with a pre-tax profit of $55.2 million almost 52 percent up on last year.

Linamar chief executive Linda Hasenfratz said: “We are delighted to register another record quarter in Q2 on both sales and earnings. Earnings growth is outpacing sales growth by a factor of three, the Industrial segment continues to perform very well and we continue to see great improvements in ROCE and ROE. In addition with a solid quarter of free cash flow we continue to drive a very strong balance sheet at Linamar. Our launches are driving great growth in the near term, and our competitive strength and an opportunistic market is helping us build for long term sustainable growth at Linamar.”

Vertikal Comment

Another excellent result from Skyjack, the company is currently on a roll and breaking into new customers both in the USA, but more importantly overseas.

All this without really seeing the full benefit of its wider product range, while it is unlikely to catch JLG and Genie anytime soon it is certainly in reach of Haulotte to take the number three spot if it continues at these sorts of growth levels.

Of course we still do not have total transparency for Skyjack numbers so any such comparison is an estimte and likely to be vague.