Postive outlook for Genie following profit drop

Profit was down in 2014 for the AWP segment of Terex, otherwise known as Genie, but a 137% rise in backlog hinted at a strong year ahead.

Over the year Terex AWP's income from operations stood at $302 million, compared to $326 million in 2013. This represented a significant portion of group profit, with consolidated income from operations across the whole of Terex reaching 423 million.

In the fourth quarter AWP income from operations was $38.7 million, down from $71.5 millio in the same period 2013.

Sales in the segment dropped to $468 million in the fourth quarter of 2014, from £482 million in the same period of 2013. Over the full year, however, sales grew from $2.131 billion in 2013 to $2.369 billion in 2014.

Gross profit also fell to $88 million in the fourth quarter from $122 million in the fourth quarter 2013, while full year gross profit reached $504 million, slightly down from the $515 million achieved in 2013.

Ron DeFeo, Terex chairman and CEO, said, “While our AWP segment was substantially below the prior year, during the fourth quarter of 2013, AWP performance was particularly strong as we focused on producing equipment during that traditionally softer demand period to capture incremental demand in the quarter, as well as level the production load on our factories.

“Conversely, in the fourth quarter of 2014, we curtailed production to align our product build schedules more closely with actual demand and machine configuration in our order book.”

AWP backlog increased 137% in 2014 to $698 million, compared to the previous year, which Mr DeFeo said was a good sign for a solid year ahead.

Group backlog for 2015 stood at $2 billion at the end of 2014, an increase of about 17.4% from 30 September in the same year, and an increase of about 9.5% from the end of 2014. “The majority of the year-over-year increase relates to timing differences in order patterns from large AWP rental customers, partially offset by decreases in the material handling and port solution and materials processing (MHPS) due to significant shipments of port automation products in the fourth quarter of 2014 and the negative impact of foreign exchange rates.”