02.05.2022

Palfinger breaks records

Loader crane and aerial lift manufacturer Palfinger has reported record revenues and order intake for the first quarter.

Total revenues during the three months to the end of March were €485.6 million, up 19.6 percent on the same quarter last year. The company also said that it had record order intake in the quarter taking the order book to a new record but does not appear to have disclosed the actual numbers.

Geographically, Europe, Africa and Middle East regions represented 62 percent of the total sales, with a further 22 percent coming from North America. South and Central America also performed well and now makes up six percent of total revenues, the same as CIS countries, while Asia Pacific came in at four percent.

Pre-tax profits fell 24 percent to €29.4 million due to high material costs which could not be passed on, as well as higher R&D and other costs.

Chief executive Andreas Klauser said: “Despite material, personnel and capacity bottlenecks, Palfinger maintains output at a high level. However, the war in Ukraine further increases problems in the supply chain, which cause inefficiencies and high stock levels in production and assembly plants. In view of increasing delivery delays for truck chassis in the European region and general material shortages, Palfinger has adjusted its capacities in the second quarter. “We are proactively taking every measure to keep our delivery reliability at a high level for the upcoming difficult and unpredictable months in an attempt to cushion the negative impacts as much as possible.”

“Despite the record order backlog, visibility of revenue and earnings for 2022 is limited. The existing order book limits the company's flexibility in passing on cost increases to its customers at short term notice. Taking this current situation and the effects of the war in Ukraine into account, Palfinger has reduced its expectations for revenue and earnings for 2022. We are still aiming full year revenues of €2.3 billion from organic growth, a ROCE of 12 percent and an EBIT margin of 10 percent in 2024. Revenue is expected to pass the €3 billion mark in 2030.”

Vertikal Comment

This is a good result in terms of winning business and expansion, although sadly it did not translate into profit growth, something we have seen with several companies that have reported so far. Palfinger has greater exposure to the Russian market than many companies we cover, employing around 1,400 people across five sites. Palfinger says that it has suspended all product exports to Russia, and is abiding by all sanctions, However, its Russian subsidiaries operate independently, serving the local market.