05.11.2012

Order intake jumps at Manitowoc

Manitowoc Crane has report a lower growth in the fourth but a 22 percent improvement in crane order intake.

Crane revenues for the nine months to the end of September are up over 13 percent to $1.67 billion, with an operating income of $99.4 million – 43 percent higher than in the same period last year.

Looking at the third-quarter crane sales improved over 4.9 percent to $555.1 million, driven primarily by continued growth in the Americas, offset by lower demand in Europe and Asia. A negative currency exchange had a $29.4 million impact on revenues which were up over 10 percent in local currencies. Supply chain issues also lowered shipment and therefor revenue levels. Operating income for the period was relatively flat as $26.5 million.

The crane order book/backlog as of September was $976 million - 25.9 percent up on the quarter and 22 percent higher than year ago.

Chief executive Glen Tellock said: “The Crane order increase was particularly noteworthy, given that the third quarter is typically seasonally soft. Orders were driven by demand across multiple product categories, including rough-terrain cranes and all-terrain cranes, as well as strengthening demand in smaller-capacity crawler cranes. However, the unfavourable macroeconomic environment continues to impact many of our European and Asian markets, as well as our tower crane and large crawler crane product lines”.

Group revenues – including the food services division were $2.82 billion year to date with a pre-tax profit of $101.9 million a five-fold increase on last year’s $20.3 million.

“While third-quarter results fell short of our expectations in some key areas, we also had several notable positives despite lingering uncertainty and continued pressure in the global macroeconomic environment. We are focused on positioning the company for long-term improvement in profitability, even in the face of modest growth. This includes enhancing our global manufacturing network, improving operational efficiency across the organization, and driving continuous product innovation,” said Tellock.

“Looking to the fourth quarter, we expect to see a sequential improvement over our third-quarter results and remain committed to achieving our full-year 2012 objectives.”

Vertikal Comment

While growth in the third quarter was undoubtedly slower in terms of reported revenues and profit, the company should finish the year with a strong fourth quarter based on orders received in the third quarter which ought to bring the full year in at or above the original forecasts for the division of 10 to 12 percent growth.

Given the first half numbers and the order intake surge in the third quarter the company appears to be doing well and is in good shape for 2013.