15.11.2012

Strong upswing at Skyjack

Aerial lift and telehandler manufacturer Skyjack- the largest part of Linamar’s Industrial division - has reported a strong third quarter result.

Revenues for the nine months to the end of September were $391.9 million up 55 percent on the same period last year. Operating income for the period was $22.3 million, compared to a loss last year of $2.96 million.

Looking at the third quarter revenues climbed 14.2 percent to $102 million, while last year’s loss of $1.5 million was turned into a profit of $800,000 this year.

Linamar as a whole posted revenues of almost $2.5 billion for the nine months – 15 percent higher than last year, while pre-tax profits jumped almost 56 percent to $148.4 million.

Linamar chief executive Linda Hasenfratz said: “We are very pleased to see another strong quarter in Q3 in both sales and earnings growth. Earnings growth continues to outpace sales growth by a significant factor, leverage ratios continue to improve and we continue to see great improvements in ROCE and ROE. Our substantial launch book is 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

While the growth in the Industrial division is mostly Skyjack, the other two parts of the grouping are being to come to life which will further cloud our view of Skyjack’s results.

However no matter which way you look at it Skyjack is doing well and keeping up a pace closer to JLG and Genie than those who are growing at a slower rate. While the company still relies on scissor lift sales it is beginning to build a decent population of boom lifts which are, from the feedback we receive, performing well and building the company’s reputation in this part of the market.

It is working hard on expanding its boom lift line which will help it maintain growth next year and perhaps lift the pace further in 2014?

All in all a good result