01.02.2006

Manitowoc crane sales up 30%

Manitowoc Inc has released its results for 2005, at the group level sales increased by almost 30 percent to $2.3 billion from $1.8 billion in 2004. Net earnings for 2005 were $65.8 million up by 68 percent, from $39.1 million in 2004.

The crane sector performed particularly well with sales up by 22 percent to $1.6 billion from 1.2 billion last year. Operating income however rose to $115 million up by more than 100% from $57.8 million in 2004.

The fourth quarter was particularly strong with a strong order intake boosting the segment backlog to $688 million, five months at 2005 production levels.

"Manitowoc exceeded its own expectations for financial performance in 2005, and we have set even higher goals for 2006," said Terry D. Growcock, Manitowoc's chairman and chief executive officer. "Global demand for our broad line of lifting solutions has driven performance in our Crane segment to record levels”

"Demand for premium lifting solutions continues to strengthen in our key markets. Market indicators for crawler cranes, such as rising rental rates and improved fleet utilization, continue to improve in North America, while our efforts at cross-leveraging our tower crane product line into North America are also showing success. Demand for mobile cranes is robust, as global construction activity continues to ramp up in the energy, transportation, and industrial infrastructure segments” He continued.

Other significant numbers included
- A slip in group margins with gross profit as a percentage of sales slipping from 20 percent to 18.7 percent.

-The shipbuilding sector moved from an OI of $16 million to loss of $9 million, driven by a $10 million reserve to cover a possible claim.

-The group reduced its total debt by $106 million
The crane group now represents over 70 percent of group revenues.

Vertikal Comment

Manitowoc continues to benefit from the increasing strength of the worldwide crane market. Its steady stream of strong new Grove All Terrain models, along with a significant pick up in the world wide tower crane market continues has resulted in this strong result.

2006 looks set to be continue along the same vein, with its new Grove GMK5220 and 4080-1 models coming on line, the growing popularity of tower cranes in North America where the group has strong distribution coverage.