Manitowoc growth in double figures
25 October 2013
Third-quarter 2013 net sales in Manitowoc’s crane segment were US$ 612.6 million, up 10.4 % from $555.1 million in the third quarter of 2012. Primary drivers were continued growth in the Americas and in crawler crane sales. Also reported was ongoing success with the Manitowoc Crane Care product support division.
Crane segment operating earnings for the third quarter of 2013 were $55.7 million, up 110.2 % on the $26.5 million in the same period the year before. The operating margin was 9.1 % for the third quarter of 2013, up from 4.8 % in Q3 2012.
Order backlog was $568 million on 30 September 2013, down by $158 million from the end of the previous quarter. Third quarter 2013 orders, at $450 million, were 23 % lower than the third quarter of 2012.
Growth in the Crane segment was largely responsible for the combined Manitowoc Company (cranes and foodservice) increase of 7.1 %. Sales were $1.015 billion, up from $947.5 million in the same period a year earlier.
Glen Tellock, Manitowoc chairman and chief executive officer, said, “While the global markets have not rebounded to the degree that we had expected, we generated solid third-quarter sales growth and notable margin improvement, driven by strength in our crawler crane product line, the success of our new products, as well as the execution of our Lean manufacturing, purchasing, and product quality initiatives. Order intake, however, did track lower than expected, reflecting the cautious and conservative spending actions of many customers. Despite these headwinds, we continue to execute our strategies and focus on the areas we can control, which will ultimately drive long-term, sustainable growth and margin improvement including expanding our global footprint, accelerating new product innovation, and driving operational excellence.”
Looking ahead, based on results so far this year and the outlook for the final quarter, Manitowoc’s forecast is for crane revenue to show mid single-digit percentage growth and for the operating margin to be a high single-digit percentage.
