29.05.2026

Higher crane revenues for Manitowoc

Manitowoc Crane, the owner of the Grove, Potain, National Crane and MGX brands, has reported an improving first quarter, with high revenues and a strong pick up in order intake.

Revenues for the three months to the end of March were $494.6 million, up five percent on the same period last year. Revenues from services - non-new crane sales – totalled $165.7 million, up eight percent on the year.

order intake in the quarter improved 5.8 percent to $645.7 million, creating a backlog/order book at the end of the first quarter of $797.8 million, up 17.5 percent, bouncing back from an 18 percent decline this time last year.

The company made a Pre-tax loss for the quarter of $9.3 million compared to a loss in the first quarter of 2024 of $8.8 million, due to higher engineering, sales & admin expense along with a slightly higher interest expense.

Chief executive Aaron Ravenscroft said: “The Manitowoc team delivered first quarter results in line with expectations. Backlog reached $940 million, our highest level in two years, reflecting strong demand for our products. Under our CRANES+50 strategy, non‑new machine sales rose 8% on a trailing 12 month basis to a record $696 million. In addition, customer feedback to our new products and aftermarket offerings at the ConExpo trade show was outstanding.”

Vertikal Comment

Pre-tax profit aside, this looks like a promising start to the year for Manitowoc, and at least a good deal of the higher costs is going into engineering and development.

Its All Terrain product range is shaping up really well now and is winning back new and previously lost customers. It could perhaps benefit from spreading the message a little better? Grove was at one time the global market leader for telescopic cranes, although that was in the days before All Terrains really took off. The mobile crane market is a good deal tougher these days, with customers having more choice than ever.

However, the Grove All Terrain range has never been better than it is now, it has a very positive message to promote.

It now needs to increase sales volumes while continuing to invest in its distribution and support network. It is good to see a publicly quoted US company focusing on the longer term.