24.01.2008

Haulotte’s sales jump 26%

Haulotte has announced that its total revenues in 2007 increased by 26 percent compared to 2006, reaching a new record of €652.7 million ($950 million).

The company says that the pace of growth increased in the fourth quarter (typically Haulotte’s strongest) although the year on year increase for the quarter was lower than the annual growth at 20 percent. The fourth quarter 2006 was up 50 percent on the same period in 2005.

Equipment sales represented 86 percent of total revenues compared to 84 percent in 2006, while the company’s new production facilities, opened during the year, are said to have contributed €35 million to 2007 revenues.

The company is forecasting 2008 sales of €700 million an increase of just under 7.5 percent, it anticipates maintaining its net profit as a percentage of sales in double digits, predicting 11 percent of sales compared to an expected 12 percent for 2007.

Share buy back program

Haulotte has also updated on a share buy back program that it has instituted, in 2007 it bought 697,420 of its own shares for a total of €16,997,951.an average price of €24.37 each.

The company says that it may make further purchases under this programme according to stock price trends.

Vertikal Comment

Another excellent set of numbers from Haulotte, taking it close to being a $ billon company, particularly pleasing to senior managers will be the fact that its core equipment sales business has grown by almost 30 percent in 2007 to around €561.

Haulotte has now divested itself of its largest rental business - in France - and so the seven percent increase forecast for 2008 is not as conservative as it might look at first glance, particularly given the strength of the dollar and the additional capacity that companies like Genie and UpRight have added in Europe during 2007.
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For the first time in several years our January prediction for Haulotte’s full year revenues are close to those of the management, which actually represents a growth of around 12.5 percent when you factor in the lost rental revenues,

Given the economic nervousness and even uncertainty, caused by negative mass media reports over the credit crunch, and increased competition in the aerial lift market, 12.5 percent seems a healthy and yet achievable forecast,

It would be no surprise though to see Haulotte exceed its €700 million by a modest margin and become the third aerial lift company to achieve a billion dollars in revenues.