08.08.2023

Strong first half for Manitowoc

Manitowoc Crane, which includes Grove, Potain and National Cranes, has posted a strong second quarter and first half, in terms of both sales and profits.

First Half
Total revenues for the six months to the end of June increased more than 16 percent on the same period last year to $1.1 billion, driven by strong sales in the Americas. Pre-tax profit for the period more than doubled to $35.7 million.

Second quarter
In the second quarter the upward sales trend accelerated rising 21.2 percent to $602.8 million. Order intake in the same period increased 26.8 percent to $550.5 million although with shipments outpacing order inflow, the order book/backlog slipped around five percent to $1.03 billion

Full year forecast
With the strong second quarter and half year order book, the company has upped its full year sales forecast to $2.1 to $2.2 billion.

Chief executive Aaron Ravenscroft said: “Manitowoc's strong second quarter revenue and double digit adjusted EBITDA margin exceeded our expectations. We continue to make progress on CRANES+50 with an 8.1% increase in non-new machine sales year over year contributing to these results. The overall market remained strong in the Americas which offset softness in the European tower crane business.”

“Given our solid first half of the year and strong backlog, we are raising our guidance for the full year. Focusing on the long term, we remain committed to investing in our four breakthrough initiatives that fuel our CRANES+50 strategy.”

Vertikal Comment

A positive set of numbers from Manitowoc, which looks set for its best year in a very long time. The company is making progress on a number of fronts and in particular appears to be hitting the right note with most, if not all, of its new product introductions, at least when it comes to All Terrains where it is winning back customers that have not bought Grove for some time. But it is also making solid progress with boosting revenues from activities that do not involve manufacturing and selling new cranes, such as replacement parts sales, rental and other services, with most of the expansion in this areas coming from acquisitions.

While there is still much to be done, Manitowoc seems to be really gathering some momentum at the moment and still has plenty of potential left in the pot, to fuel further growth.