01.08.2022

Record revenues for Palfinger

Palfinger has posted its first €1billion half year in terms of revenues, although profits have taken a hit.
Total revenues for the period were €1.04 billion, up 17.5 percent on last year, thanks to higher sales in the Americas, as growth in its main European market slowed a little in the face of the war in Ukraine.

Sales by region
Europe - €628.3 million + 11%
N.America - €225.1 million +28%
S.America- €65.1 million +91%
CIS states - €67.7 million +17%
Asia/Pacific - €50.5 million +8%

Pre-tax profits declined just over 14 percent to €75.1 million. The bulk of the decline is directly attributable to a lower gross margin thanks to higher component and raw material costs, as well as disruption to production.

Net debt at the end of the period was €604.1 million, an increase of more than 56 percent on this time last year, due to a number of reasons, including substantially higher inventories, the reversal of the cross shareholdings with Sany which involved some share buy backs, plus the acquisition of the 35 percent holding that it did not already own in the French manufacturing business Guima Palfinger. And the 40 percent it did not own in its distribution company in Spain and Portugal Palfinger Iberica maquinaria. It total it spent €21.3 million cash on acquiring minority stakes such as these.

Order book, Palfinger has not provided actual numbers yet on the size of its order book - backlog if you prefer – as of the end of June but does say that it already “extends into the second quarter of 2023 so around €2 billion or so. As part of its strategy going forward, the company is adopting Dynamic Pricing from the start of the new year. It explains it as an index-based and flexible pricing model, allowing it to react quickly to rising or falling costs. Chief executive Andreas Klauser said: “In this way, we guarantee transparency, the immediate and direct transfer of costs, and consequently stabilised profitability.”

Vertikal Comment

This is another excellent set of numbers from Palfinger which has been changing its operations steadily over the past couple of years as it extracts its self from some of its complicated cross ownership relationships while taking full control of some of its distribution and support operations, in order to boost its stake in the after sales side of the business. Even its Marine division is looking positive, having won a major 10 year agreement with Anker BP to supply and service offshore cranes.

The company believes that a combination of price increases and a more stable supply chain will help boost second half earnings, although its profit warning at the end of January still stands.

Given the challenges most manufacturer’s face Palfinger has had a pretty good first half.