23.07.2020

Manitex cuts debt by €5m

Manitex - parent of PM, Oil &Steel and Valla - has reduced its European bank debt by almost €5 million ($5.5 million), by generating extra cash through a reduction in working capital, mainly from accelerated inventory turns. The debt was also retired at a 15 percent discount to its face value. The company’s total net debt at the end of March was $42 million.

Chief executive Steve Filipov said: “We remain committed to lowering our debt and debt servicing costs, by using every resource possible to strengthen our financial position in a challenging business environment. We have been focused on generating cash from operations over the past few quarters, and this has put us in a good position to reduce some of our European debt, at a discount. Given the continued uncertainty with our end markets, we are going to continue to focus on the things we can control, with aggressive cost management and working capital reductions. This focus will allow us to maintain good liquidity and balance sheet improvement.”

Vertikal Comment

Manitex still has tremendous untapped potential with its European operations, which include PM loader cranes, Valla pick & carry cranes and Oil & Steel truck mounted and spider lifts. It looks as though it is making progress on pulling together the three businesses which have not all been particularly well managed in the recent past.

There is still much to be done, but on the surface it looks like more positive news, during otherwise challenging times.