13.03.2013

A strong 2012 for Manitex

US based Boom truck and port equipment supplier Manitex has published a strong set of numbers for 2012 and expects to see similar growth levels for 2013.

Revenues for the year were up 44 percent to $205.2 million, while pre-tax profits almost tripled to $11.9 million, from $4.2 million in 2011. The company’s order book at the end of December was up 56 percent on the year to $130.4 million.

Looking at the fourth quarter and the story was even more positive, with revenues up 55 percent to $56.5 million resulting in a seven fold increase in pre-tax profits to $2.65 million.

Chief executive David Langevin said: “2012 was an exciting year of growth for Manitex, despite the continuing challenges of a weak global economy. We turned in record performance for revenues, EPS, EBITDA, backlog and other key metrics, due to solid execution of our business plan across the board.”

“Our investment in new products has already assisted in our growth, with products we’ve developed and launched in the last three years now accounting for nearly 25 percent of our annual revenues, and we believe these will help drive us further in the future.”

“While our expectations are for a continuation of modest economic improvement, but with pronounced weakness in Europe, we believe our growth will continue to be driven by selectively adding products and companies that fit strategically with our company. Our current business model has us positioned with approximately 50 percent of our sales going into the energy area and the other 50 percent sold into the general commercial markets. We believe this puts our company and our shareholders in the best position to realise above average returns for 2013 and beyond.”

“To that end, we’ve established a 2015 sales target of $350 million, excluding any acquisitions, with earnings and cash flow consistent with our current run rates.”

Vertikal Comment

Manitex is ‘on a roll’ at the moment and appears to have the knack or getting positive or improving results out of what looks like defunct of has been brands/product lines, while also revitalising them.

It has a great deal of potential within the businesses it is already running but may also be able to build on this with another acquisition or two. It is skilled at picking up what later turns out to be a bargain. So expect it to be shopping in Southern Europe or other distressed markets.

An excellent result for an up and coming group.