23.01.2007

Strong fourth quarter at Haulotte

Haulotte has announced that sales in 2006 increased by 34 percent to a record €519 million ($670 million).

The revenue growth accelerated in the fourth quarter which saw revenues climb by over 50 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2005.

The group saw little change in its geographical revenue split with sales in Europe accounting for 90 percent of the total.

Sales of equipment were €436 million, representing 84 percent of the total, while its rental operations generated €57 million or 11 percent of total sales.
Services and finance make up the balance,

In spite of its strong fourth quarter shipments, Haulotte says that its order intake for the 12 months outpaced shipments, growing by 40 percent compared to last year.

The company expects net income to be up by 15 to 20 percent at around €60 million or 11 percent of sales. It is forecasting that this will rise in 2007 to 12 percent.

Haulotte says that, while this is a good result, “it is fully aware that crucial work remains to be done to prepare for the future, in terms of increased efficiency; keeping abreast of market developments and the expansion of production capacity to keep pace with its long term strategies”.

As part of this latter requirement the company says that its new plants in Spain and Romania will come progressively ‘on stream’ during the first half of this year.