27.04.2021

Record start for Manitou

Aerial lift and telehandler manufacturer Manitou has reported a strong first quarter uptick in revenues with record order intake.

The company has just released its quarterly sales figures which show revenues up 12 percent to €471 million. The percentage increase applied equally to both new equipment sales which was up 12 percent at €388 million and parts & services which was also up 12 percent to €83 million. Order intake more than doubled to €815 million, leaving an order book at the end of March of €1.34 billion, compared to €648 million this time last year.

Geographically Southern Europe came in just two percent lower at €149 million, which was more than compensated for by a 27 percent jump in Northern European which recorded sales of €193 million. The Americas improved 10 percent on the year to €87 million while Asia Pacific grew nine percent to €42 million.

The company is forecasting full year growth of more than 15 percent which would take it to €1.82 billion, but still short of the record numbers achieved in 2019 of €2.1 billion.

Chief executive Michel Denis said: “Activity in the first quarter confirms and expands the rebound that we have seen at the end of 2020. All markets and sectors of activity have experienced extremely sustained growth. On the strength of this momentum, the group has set an all time record for order intake, which reached €815 million in the quarter. As a direct consequence of this recovery, our order backlog jumped to €1,344 million, an unprecedented high level.”

“From an operational point of view, we are organising the adaptation of our production line speeds, taking into account the time required to accelerate our entire supply chain and the need to recruit and train additional manpower. The situation is made more complex by tensions over the availability of certain components. This context has created an inflationary trend in raw materials and specific components, which has led us to pass on these increases immediately to our tariffs. Given the depth of our order book, these rises of prices will only have their first effects at the end of the year.”

“We remain fully focused on the upturn. Our acceleration is still limited by an ecosystem that cannot take off any faster. We are confirming our business and earnings expectations for the year, while remaining very vigilant about the delays that could result from the lack of availability of some components or a further deterioration in the health situation."

Vertikal Comment

This is an excellent start to the year for Manitou and beyond what anyone could possibly have predicted just four or five months ago. One wonders if some of the revenue might have slipped over from 2020 – either due to material shortages or other factors…?

If all goes well the company will at the very least see sales return to 2018 levels, when revenues were just under €1.9 billion with a pre-tax profit of €122.5 million.

No matter how you look at it a very positive start to the year.