29.04.2004

Manitowoc quarterly revenues up 14 percent

The Manitowoc Company has announced a 14 percent increase in its group revenues to $412 million (UK£232 million) for the first quarter of 2004, compared to the corresponding period of 2003. Crane sales were also up by 14 percent to $252 million (£142 million).

Group gross margins improved by over half a percent to 22 percent, while sales and admin (SG&A) expense as a percentage of sales improved marginally, dropping to 16.5 percent from 16.9 percent reported in the previous year. Interest expense was down by over $1 million (£0.56 million), or seven percent, thanks to the debt reduction efforts and free cash generated in 2003. Net profit after tax rose to $5.8 million (£3.3 million) from a figure of $0.5 million (£0.28 million) reported in 2003.

"Improving demand for tower and mobile hydraulic cranes worldwide, strong Foodservice performance, and a full slate of Marine work gave the company a solid start to the year," said Terry D Growcock, Manitowoc's chairman and chief executive officer. "We are optimistic that this is indicative of a trend towards recovery in our markets.

"While we are watching a few factors that may affect our businesses, such as higher commodity prices, we remain confident that our new products, industry breadth and global reach will help us continue to grow our market shares and profitability."

Crane sales over the same period were also up by 14 percent to $253 million (£142.4 million). The operating profit made on cranes rose to 4.1 per cent from 3.7 percent in the same period 2003. The order backlog to the end of March, which does not include bauma orders, was $336 million (£189.1 million), up from $221 million (£124.4 million) at the end of last year.

"Demand for all crane products, except for crawlers, seems to be improving, as evidenced by our backlog numbers and the successful reception we received at bauma, where we launched 11 new crane products," continued Growcock.

"During the quarter, we also accepted an offer from JLG to buy our Delta Manlift subsidiary, which enables us to complete our exit from the original equipment aerial work platform business. This is part of our strategy to divest non-core crane operations and focus on crawler, tower, and mobile telescopic cranes, as well as boom trucks."