13.09.2023

First half boom for Haulotte

French aerial lift manufacturer Haulotte has posted its first half results showing a strong increase in sales.

Total revenues for the first six months to the end of June were €403.7 million, up 40 percent on the same period last year.

The revenues were made up as follows:
New equipment sales: €356.9 million + 44%
Services: €35.2 million +16%
Rental €11.6 million + 6%
Total: €403.7 million

Pre-tax profits: improved nine percent rising to €2.67 million, held back my adverse currency factors.

Haulotte says that the higher revenues came from growing sales volumes, an easing of the supply chain issues allowing more production and the price increases that are now fully implemented compared to the first half of 2022.

European sales increased 25 percent, driven by all markets except Russia, which is at a standstill.
Asia-Pacific continued to grow with invoicing up 36 percent in the first half, driven mainly by Australia.
North America gathered further momentum with sales jumping 85 percent over last year, largely driven by aerial work platform sales which were 130 percent higher than last year.
South America bounced back with a 47 percent increase compared with the same period last year, driven largely by sales in Brazil.

Net debt increased just over six percent - or €15.1 million - to €261.1 million due to a €23.6 million increase in working capital requirements linked to the strong growth in activity despite the return to profitability and the reduction in inventories observed over the period.

The backlog/order book at the end of June “remains well above normal”, and the company expects annual revenue growth for the full year to be in the region of 25 to 30 percent. This would take annual revenues into the region of €760 to €800 million.

Vertikal Comment

No doubt about it, a cracking result for Haulotte, which has performed significantly better than most might have forecast. It highlights the fact that the company now has a first class product line, a number of new innovative technological features and options, along with more settled sales and marketing teams in key areas of the world. The company still has plenty of potential for further growth and could achieve its first €1billion year in 2024, assuming overall market conditions do not deteriorate.

Watch this space