28.03.2006

Manitowoc boosts forecasts

The Manitowoc company has announced today that it expects its first-quarter 2006 earnings per share to be at least 20 cents above average Wall Street estimates.

The announcement is driven by a strong first-quarter and positive outlook for the remainder of the year. The company is raising its full year earnings per share forecast by almost 15 percent, to $3.75 to $4.00 a share from its earlier $3.30 to $3.60 range.

The GAAP earnings will include the change in accounting for stock option expense which is estimated to be $0.15, net of tax.

Chairman and chief executive officer Terry Growcock said "The crane business has continued to outperform even our own high expectations. We are extremely pleased with our success in working through production challenges common in this high demand environment. The very strong cyclical upswing in our crane market appears to have offset much of the seasonal softness we would typically see in the first quarter of the year.

Both the Foodservice and Marine segments are performing in-line with levels planned at the beginning of the year."