02.05.2023

Profit surge from Manitowoc

Manitowoc Cranes, the company that owns Grove and National Crane wheeled cranes, French tower crane company Potain and Manitowoc crawler cranes has reported a strong first quarter.

Total revenues for the three months to the end of March were $508.3 million, up 10.7 percent on the same quarter last year.

Order intake marginally outpaced shipments at $524.8 million, up nine percent on the year, leaving the backlog at the end of March two percent higher at $1.08 billion.

Pre-tax profit more than doubled to $20.7 million.

Chief executive Aaron Ravenscroft said: “Manitowoc delivered a solid first quarter, generating $508.3 million in revenue and $45.1 million of adjusted EBITDA. I am very proud of our team who demonstrated great resolve to overcome continuing supply chain, labour and logistics challenges in the quarter. During the quarter, we continued to make meaningful progress on our Cranes+50 strategy by growing non-new machine sales by 16.7% year-over-year.”

“Given our backlog and first quarter results, we feel confident about our guidance. Looking out, however, we can see a slowdown in the European tower crane business and are cautious regarding the impact higher interest rates could eventually have on demand. While we continue to manage through the challenging environment, we remain committed to our CRANES+50 strategy to reduce cyclicality and improve profitability.”

Vertikal Comment

A really decent set of numbers from Manitowoc which has been pushing hard to become less dependent on manufacturing new equipment, by investing in its product support, rebuild and distribution operations, not to mention rental, both through acquisitions and organic growth. The 16.7 percent increase in non-new crane sales is a testament to this effort. The company is also doing well with most of its recently launched new Grove All Terrain cranes, which must surely be gaining the company some market share in key capacity classes.

All in all, a really decent start to the year from Manitowoc with promises of an upward trend as the company regains its mojo.