03.08.2026

Positive first half for Manitou

French telehandler and aerial work platform manufacturer Manitou, has published its first-half results with higher revenues and profit, and a solid pick up in order intake.

Year to Date:

Total revenues for the six months until the end of June were €1.43 billion an increase of 12% over the same point last year. Order intake also improved, rising 15.3% to €1.18 billion, nudging the backlog/ order book up 4.9% to €1.09 billion.

Pre-tax profit jumped 49.5% to €78.5 million thanks to lower interest costs and substantially lower write downs/write offs, combined with improved operating margins.

Net debt was reduced again, this time by 8.3% to €224 million.

Sales by division:
New equipment sales €1.21 billion +13.5%
Spare Parts €173 million +2.3%
Services €44 +3.7%
Total Revenues €1.43 billion +12%

Sales by region:
Europe €1.2 billion +16.5%
North America €240 million (-8.4%)
S. America and rest of world €154 million (-8.8%)
Total Revenues €1.275 billion (-9.4.4%)

Second Quarter:
Total revenues €780 million +15.6%

Order intake in the quarter was €550 million up 22.5% on the same quarter last year, leaving the order book at the end of the quarter 4.9% higher at €1.09 billion.

Full year forecast: The company is now forecasting revenue growth for 2026 of between 6.5% and 8.0%, which translates to total revenues of €2.73 and €2.76 billion.

Chief executive Sylvain Blaise, who took over in June, said: “Our business activity in the first half of 2026 demonstrates remarkable momentum, with revenue up 12.0%. This acceleration was confirmed in the second quarter with robust growth of +15.6%.”

"In a complex global environment, Europe established itself as our primary growth driver (+16.6%), driven by the rental and agricultural sectors. Despite headwinds in North America due to tariffs and a Latin America region impacted by Asian competition and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, our fundamentals remain strong.”

Vertikal Comment

This is an incredible result from Manitou, at a time when many of its competitors are struggling with margins and profitability.

The company does seem to be on a strong upward trend now, landing some substantial new business in Europe while controlling operating and material cost increases, and yet still investing more in forward-looking areas such as Research & Development.

Having started out early, with some new technology and product developments, such as all electric or hybrid booms and telehandlers, it has, at times, been slow to bring them to market.

Those new products and developments are now making an impact, it seems, as are improvements and expansion of its distribution network.

Very encouraging news to start the month.