05.03.2015

23%+ jump for Skyjack

Skyjack owner Linamar has issued preliminary year end information on its 2014 results which show another strong year for Skyjack.

Total revenues for the Canadian based lift manufacturer were C$692.3 million ($555 million), an increase of 23.3 percent on 2013. It should be noted however that this number is for the Industrial division of Linamar which includes other minor operations, given that they are reported to have seen a decline in the period indicates that Skyjacks revenue growth was even more substantial. Operating profits for the period more than doubled to $109.7 million ($88 million).

Moving on to the fourth quarter, where a little more information is available, and we see that revenues within the division improved 8.4 percent to $123.1 million, while operating profits almost tripled to $14 million. The higher revenues resulted from favourable changes in foreign exchange rates, coupled with increased North American, Asian and European sales. Notable improvements included higher market share for Skyjack booms in Europe, and a strong improvement from scissor lifts in Asia.

The higher profits are due to the favourable exchange rates, and a positive model mix, on top of the higher volumes, offset somewhat by increased management and sales costs supporting growth.

Linamar chief executive Linda Hasenfratz, reporting on another record year for the group, said: “We are thrilled to register a fantastic fourth quarter to close out another record year in sales and arnings for Linamar. Financially we saw double digit sales and earnings growth, driven by market share growth in both our vehicle and access markets, taking margins to record levels, all of which drove great cash generation to allow us to significantly reduce debt levels. Strategically, we executed on a global forging expansion poised to add significantly to our growth and at the same time saw tremendous levels of new business wins in our core business. We have an outstanding team at Linamar which is performing at optimum levels, with an excellent outlook for continued growth over the next several years.”

Vertikal Comment

Skyjack is really making solid progress, adding new regions to its geographic spread, and getting some real traction with its boom lift range, which has now been extended to include the 80/86ft market sector. The coming of age of its boom lift range is a necessary move, as in some countries it really cannot expect to get a higher market share for its scissor lifts, having almost become a dominant player.

If it can maintain its core values and product quality etc... while continuing to crank up production volumes, and remaining a compact and easy to deal with company, it faces several very positive years during the current economic cycle, which hopefully is still in its infancy.