07.11.2014

Further declines at Bronto

Finnish based truck mounted lift manufacturer Bronto has reported sharply lower revenues and margins for the third quarter

Nine month revenues are down 20 percent to $84.1 million, due largely to slower sales in Europe, including deferred shipments due to supply issues with chassis and speciality cylinders, although order intake increased 14 percent to $114.2 million, thanks to strong order intake in North America. Operating income in the period dropped from a profit last year of 7.4 million to a loss this year of 1.3 million.

Moving on to the third quarter, revenues dropped 34 percent to $25.5 million, due to the deferred shipments and the fact that Bronto’s Euro revenues are translated into the dollar of its parent, Federal Signal. The company also made an operating loss in the quarter of $200,000 compared to a profit last year of $3.3 million.

The backlog/order book at the end of the quarter was 25 percent higher than a year ago at $100.6 million.

Chief executive Dennis Martin said: “Our third quarter results continue to benefit from solid market demand, leverage of our sales growth and improving efficiencies in our operations. We delivered a 32 percent increase in operating income and a 14 percent increase in orders. Our operating margin for the quarter was 11.4 percent, up by more than a percentage point compared to an outstanding second quarter - and the highest it has been in over 10 years.”

Vertikal Comment

Bronto has been struggling with production for much of this year, due to the supply of chassis and other items. This must be frustrating given the dramatic improvements the company notched up during the recession.

Sales in Europe have also dropped back after several very good years, partially due to some of its key customers taking a breather on further investments, while also facing stiffer completion from companies like Ruthmann, which has been stepping up its export efforts in the past year or two.

Still... going into the fourth quarter with an order book that should take it through much of next year is no bad thing. Expect a better fourth quarter as deferred machines finally ship.