08.08.2025

Mixed fortunes for Manitowoc

Manitowoc Crane - Grove, Potain, National Crane and Manitowoc - has reported its first half and second quarter results, which show a further fall in revenues and profit, at the same time as order intake picked up.

Year To Date
Total revenues for the six months to the end of June declined four percent on the same period last year to $1.01 billion. Due in part to the current uncertainty caused by the volatile tariff situation. Partly offset by higher services revenue and an improvement in the European tower crane market. Revenues that are not related to new machine sales, however, came in at $322.2 million or more than 32 percent of sales, a new record.

Order Intake for the six months was 8.3 percent higher than last year at $1.06 billion, leaving the backlog/Order book at the end of June at $729.3 million, down 12.8 percent on this time last year.

Pre-tax profit for the six months was in fact a loss of $7.5 million compared to a profit of $9.6 million a year ago. This due to lower revenues, but mostly higher engineering and other operating costs.

Second Quarter
Revenues for the three months to the end of June dipped four percent to $539.5 million, due to the reasons already mentioned, although non new equipment sales increased 9.7 percent to$161.6 million. Order intake however, jumped six percent to $453.9 million, while pre-tax profit came in at $1.3 million, down 59 percent on the same period last year.

Full year Outlook
The company has said that due to all of the current economic and political uncertainty it now thinks it will come in at the lower end of its initial forecasts, which was revenues of $2.15 billion.

Chief executive Aaron Ravenscroft said: “During the quarter, we achieved a solid 6% year-over-year growth in orders driven by strong performance in our MGX distribution business and continued momentum in the European tower crane market, despite the headwinds from tariffs. Looking at the balance of 2025, although many trade deals have been announced, we expect it will take six months for the crane market in the U.S. to find a new equilibrium. Therefore, we have adjusted our build schedules for the second half of the year and anticipate finishing the year at the lower end of our guidance range,” comments Aaron H. Ravenscroft, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Manitowoc Company, Inc.

"While we expect the Great Trade Reset to continue through the balance of 2025, we see green shoots in the market: the general European economy is improving as Germany has announced a massive infrastructure fund and an advantageous depreciation program; the tower crane business in Europe continues to rebound; the Middle East remains active and we have started to see several improvements in Asia Pacific; and, in the U.S., crane rental houses remain busy and dealer inventory is contracting. All of this bodes well for the crane industry once the tariff environment stabilises,"

Vertikal Comment

While revenues and profit have edged downwards this year, there some positives to take from these latest numbers. In particular the recovery in order intake, which is an indication that a recovery is underway, but also the ongoing rise of revenues that are unrelated to new machine sales, such as parts, services rebuilds and rentals, which now represent around 32 percent of all revenues. This could, should, help smooth the boom and bust nature of the cyclical market for the company, while eventually delivering higher margins and a more sustainable business.

Being able to invest more in this side of the business should also help boost new machine sales on the back of the stronger service and support network.
So not great bottom line numbers, but there are signs that the second half could be better, while the long term signs are positive.

Lets see how it goes.