25.04.2006

Manitowoc crane sales up 33%

Manitowoc has reported first quarter crane sales up 33 percent on 2005 to $477.5 million, while operating income for the period jumped 151 percent to $51 million.

The Crane group backlog, was 85 percent higher than this time last year at $987 million, an increase of 14 percent during the quarter from year end 2005.

"Our Crane segment's performance this quarter was truly outstanding," said Terry D. Growcock, Manitowoc's chairman and chief executive officer.

"We are seeing the dividends from our investments in a global crane strategy. Operating margins have increased from 5.7 percent to 10.7 percent, driven primarily by operating leverage from increased volume and improved product mix in all of our geographic markets. The federal highway and energy bills passed last year, along with a robust industrial construction market, are keeping U.S. fleet rental and utilization rates at high levels. Our global crane portfolio also performed very well in other regions. Demand for mobile cranes remains strong in the Europe, Middle East, and Asian regions. Our new production facility in China is providing complete tower cranes as well as crawler and mobile crane components for the growing Asian markets."

The Manitowoc group overall, reported record net sales up 24 percent to $633.0 million from $510.3 million during the first quarter of 2005. Net earnings more than quadrupled to $29.7 million compared to $6.5 million last year. Based on the first quarter performance and level of the group backlog, the company has raised its earnings expectations for a second time, from $2.15 a share to $2.25.