14.03.2026

Further declines for Palfinger

Austrian crane and aerial lift manufacturer Palfinger has posted its full year results with slightly lower revenues and another fall in profits.

Total revenues for the 12 months to the end of December were €2.34 billion, almost one percent lower than in 2024.
The company says that sales in the European region showed a strong recovery, thanks to higher sales of loader cranes and aerial work platforms, while South America and the Asia Pacific region posted even stronger growth levels, partly offset by a downturn in North America and the CIS countries, “ due to the difficult market environments “.

Revenues by region
Europe - €1.41 billion (+3%)
North America - €567.9 million (-10%
South America - €133.2 million +15%
CIS - Russia - €91.4 million (-26.5%)
Asia Pacific - €138.3 million +13%
Total - €2.34 billion

Order book the year end order book/backlog was €566.5 million down 6.5 percent on the year.

Pre-tax profit for the year dipped 2.5 percent to €138.4 million, largely due to lower interest income combined with higher interest costs.
Net debt at the end of the year was cut by more that 30 percent to €459.9 million.

Fourth quarter revenues showed a strong pick up, rising 6.7 percent to €604 million, with earnings before interest and tax more than doubling to €51.2 million.


2026 outlook
Palfinger expects the first half to show some growth but is still uncertain about the full year, stating: “Visibility currently extends slightly beyond the first half of 2026, but remains limited for the full year due to the prevailing global economic conditions. The further recovery of the European economy, alongside developments in the US economy, will be decisive for the second half of the year.”

The company’s senior management team added: “With the launch of ‘Reach Higher’ - our new Strategy 2030+ – we are well prepared to reach our new targets and to achieve more than €3 billion in revenue, with an EBIT margin of 12 percent, and 15 percent ROCE by 2030”.

"During the year, Palfinger sold €100 million of treasury shares, the proceeds of which will support the implementation of strategic investments, with a particular emphasis on expanding the after-sales business."

“Construction of a new sales and service hub has commenced in Madrid, Spain. Additionally, in the second half of the year, the spare parts hub for North America was launched in Illinois, United States. Construction of another site in Munich, Germany, is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2026. At the same time, a new production facility in Ormož, Slovenia, has commenced with development work, getting underway for an assembly plant and R&D hub in India”

Chief executive Andreas Klauser added: "Even in a dynamic environment, the global growth trend remains intact. We see opportunities in all regions and are executing our strategy with determination. As a global player, we will actively shape this development and continue to strengthen our position."

Vertikal Comment

While revenues continued to decline, the underlying trend at Palfinger is clearly positive, as the company says this was the third best year on record, while last year was the second best year ever. Both were down from the peak year of 2023. It is good, however, to see an optimistic note for Europe, even without Germany contributing to the pickup. The North American decline is no great surprise given the uncertainty there, but it was interesting to see a strong push by the company at Conexpo last week, indicating optimism for the longer term.

This year’s revenues fell below what we had predicted, entirely due to the decline in the USA. So, we are not planning to make any guesses for 2026, apart from saying that we expect sales in 2026 to be higher than in 2025, possibly reaching 2023 levels – Oops just made a forecast!