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 food service) increase of 7.1 %. Sales were $1.015 billion, up from $947.5 million in the same period a year earlier.
Glen Tellock, Manitowoc chairman and chief executive officer, said: “While the global markets have not rebounded to the degree that we had expected, we generated solid third-quarter sales growth and notable margin improvement, driven by strength in our crawler crane product line, the success of our new products, as well as the execution of our Lean manufacturing, purchasing, and product quality initiatives. Order intake, however, did track lower than expected, reflecting the cautious and conservative spending actions of many customers. Despite these headwinds, we continue to execute our strategies and focus on the areas we can control, which will ultimately drive long-term, sustainable growth and margin improvement including expanding our global footprint, accelerating new product innovation, and driving operational excellence.”
Looking ahead, based on results so far this year and the outlook for the final quarter, Manitowoc’s forecast is for crane revenue to show mid-single-digit percentage growth and for the operating margin to be a high single-digit percentage.
Meanwhile, net sales at Terex Cranes for the third quarter of 2013 were US$ 453 million, down $63 million or just over 12 %, from the $516 million in the same quarter of 2012.
Better was the MHPS segment that includes port cranes. Net sales there were $ 461 million in Q3 2013, up 3.5 % from $445 million in the same quarter of 2012.
Ron DeFeo, Terex chairman and chief executive officer, “Our Cranes segment continues to experience soft market conditions. Geographically, the global economy is best described as lacking a clear direction. North America remains the most stable market overall. Europe has seen slight improvements in certain products, mostly in our AWP segment, and the Middle East continues to provide growth. However, overall weakness in Europe and Australia has offset the growth we have experienced in other markets.”
DeFeo continued, “Our operating margins have remained consistent. However, we expected 2013 to be a year of significant sales growth, and this has not occurred. Our businesses that have a significant portion of products dependent on non-residential construction have not recovered as quickly as we had expected. Businesses that are less dependent on non-residential construction, such as our Port Solutions and AWP businesses, are seeing improving business conditions.”
Net sales for the whole of Terex Corporation were $1,811 million in the third quarter of 2013, down 0.6 % from $1,822 million in the same period a year earlier. Income from operations was $140.9 million in the third quarter of 2013, an increase of $9.0 million on the $131.9 million for Q3 a year before.
“Our third quarter operating results were as we expected but with a better tax rate,” DeFeo continued, “The current environment is mixed overall and remains challenging to predict.”
Author: Alex Dahm, KHL Group
Source: KHL Group
