Crane sales drive Manitowoc growth

First-quarter 2013 net sales in Manitowoc’s crane segment were US$547.4 million, up 7.8% from $507.9 million in the first quarter of 2012. The rise was driven primarily by continued growth in the Americas region, as well as sustained demand in certain emerging markets muted by continuing weakness in Europe, the company said.

Crane segment operating earnings for the first quarter of 2013 were $31.3 million, compared to $21.4 million in the same period last year. This resulted in an operating margin of 5.7% for the first quarter of 2013, up from 4.2% in the same period in 2012. First-quarter 2013 earnings were driven by higher sales volume and operational efficiencies, the company said.

Order backlog in the crane segment was $776 million at 31 March 2013, an increase of $20 million from year-end 2012. First-quarter 2013 orders of $569 million were 16% lower than the first quarter of 2012, a metric that was anticipated given the timing of the Bauma trade show, Manitowoc said.

Commenting on the crane segment results, Glen Tellock, Manitowoc chairman and chief executive officer, said, “We maintained our momentum during the first quarter as our crane segment generated solid sales growth and margin improvement through focused execution across all levels of the business, despite less than favourable macro-economic conditions. New orders during the first quarter were lower than the prior year as several customers deferred placing orders until the Bauma trade show.”

The Manitowoc Company reported sales of $898.0 million for the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 5.4 percent compared to sales of $851.9 million in the first quarter of 2012. The sales increase was primarily driven by the 7.8 percent increase in crane segment sales.