18.11.2021

Snorkel sales jump

Snorkel sales jumped 61 percent in the third quarter, although profitability slipped back.

The results have been revealed in a quarterly statement from Tanfield, which still owns a 49 percent stake in the business, although this is being contested in court.

Total revenues for the nine months to the end of September were just under $114 million, up more than 20 percent on the same point last year. The company continues to report a loss before interest and tax, although last year's loss of $9.8 million was reduced to $7.1 million.

Looking at the third quarter revenues jumped 61 percent to $42.2 million but profit before tax and interest increased from a loss of $1.97 million to $2.8 million, some of which appears to be currency related.

Vertikal Comment

Sales wise, this is of course a good result and puts Snorkel in a place where it should exceed full year sales of $150 million for the first time in several years. Tanfield suggests in its statement that the results may not reflect the actual situation, given the current legal battle it is fighting with Snorkel’s owner Ahern. Such a move would be understandable, but that was always a possibility given the way the original acquisition deal was drawn up, when Ahern took over the business which was in a seemingly terminal decline.

However, it bases this purely on the fact that it does not have any explanation for the increased loss, and that it does not tally with results from other manufacturers. There are of course many factors that are causing higher costs at the moment, such as supply chain issues and the resulting production inefficiencies that this causes. Snorkel is also investing heavily in new products at the moment, such as boom lift upgrades, new lithium-ion powered machines and the completion of its 210ft 2100SJ boom lift. All of which will provide benefits in the future, while not helping investor returns in the short term.