24.10.2013

Manitowoc Cranes up 9%

Manitowoc Cranes has reported a nine percent rise in nine month revenues with a steep rise in profitability.

Total revenues for the nine months were $1.82 billion, while operating profits jumped almost 53 percent to $152 million. The backlog at the end of the period was $568 million down 23 percent on this last year, due mostly to lower third quarter order intake.

Looking at the third quarter revenues improved 10.4 percent to $612.6 million, with operating income more than double that of the same quarter of last year at $55.7 million. The growth continues to come primarily in the Americas as a result of increased crawler crane activity, and higher revenues from Manitowoc Crane Care.

Manitowoc as a whole, including the Food division, saw revenues rise almost six percent to $2.96 million, while pre-tax profits jumped over 50 percent to $151.1 million

Manitowoc chief executive Glen Tellock said: "Our results for the third quarter demonstrate our efforts to deliver sustainable organic improvements through operational initiatives and new product introductions in spite of a tepid macro environment. With continuing growth, expanding margins, and strong cash flows, the focus on our core competencies underscores our ability to navigate through the prolonged uncertainty that exists in the marketplace. As we look longer term, we will continue to solidify our competitive positioning globally through the steadfast execution of our strategic imperatives."

"While the global markets have not rebounded to the degree that we had expected, we generated solid third-quarter sales growth and notable margin improvement, driven by strength in our crawler crane product line, the success of our new products, as well as the execution of our Lean manufacturing, purchasing, and product quality initiatives. Order intake, however, did track lower than expected, reflecting the cautious and conservative spending actions of many customers. Despite these headwinds, we continue to execute our strategies and focus on the areas we can control, which will ultimately drive long-term, sustainable growth and margin improvement including expanding our global footprint, accelerating new product innovation, and driving operational excellence."

Vertikal Comment

An excellent set of results from Manitowoc Cranes, in a market that it still very patchy, the only negativity is the order intake for the quarter, although that may prove to be a short term issue, it is almost certain to have an effect on fourth quarter revenues.

There is a good deal of uncertainty in the market at the moment, thanks to slower growth in emerging markets before Europe or other developed markets have emerged from the slow down. This uncertainty will probably be short lived, given pent up replacement demand, and all being well we will see a continued upward trend in 2014. The current fragility is likely to have some impact on the first half as well as the fourth quarter though.