04.05.2022

Strong pick up at Manitowoc

Manitowoc Cranes, which includes Grove mobiles, National Crane boom trucks, and Potain tower cranes has reported a substantial improvement in first quarter revenues and profit.

Total sales for the three months to the end of March were $459 million, almost 30 percent up on the same quarter last year, in spite of $15.8 million unfavourable change in foreign currency exchange rates. Order intake during the quarter was $481.5 million, marginally outpacing shipments and almost two percent higher than a year ago. The backlog/order boom at the end of March was just over $1 billion. Up 56 percent on March 2021, and 2.2 percent higher than at the start of the year. Pre-tax profit increased from $1.1 million last year to $9.6 million.

Chief executive Aaron Ravenscroft said: "I am pleased with our overall performance during the quarter. While our revenue was lower than planned, mainly due to continuing supply chain and logistics challenges, the team was able to generate $31 million of Adjusted EBITDA, exceeding our expectations. The Ukrainian crisis combined with the severe Covid measures taken in China have further exacerbated the global macroeconomic environment. The recent acceleration of inflation, particularly in Europe, combined with further deterioration in our supply chain will place added pressure on crane demand and our margins throughout the remainder of the year.”

“While we see clear signs of an economic slowdown in the near term, the backdrop for a crane renaissance remains unchanged – crane fleets continue to age beyond historic levels, and the U.S. infrastructure bill has been approved. Manitowoc will continue to invest in our four breakthrough initiatives, and we remain committed to our CRANES+50 strategy, which is to grow our non-new machine sales by 50 percent in the next five years.”

Vertikal Comment

Although revenues might well be below those originally forecast posting a strong rebound at a time when the manufacturing business is struggling with component and material shortages is very positive. Some of the change will of course be attributed to the company’s acquisition of H&E Equipment and Aspen which are less reliant on manufacturing.

That said it is good to see such a positive set of numbers from the Wisconsin headquartered business.