French manufacturer Manitou has reported a ‘dynamic’ start to the year, with total revenue increasing by 22% to €562 million, compared to the first quarter of 2018.
Southern Europe saw particularly strong growth, with revenues in the region growing by 36% compared to the equivalent quarter of the previous year.
Breaking it down by company division, the Material Handling and Access Division enjoyed a 23% rise in sales revenue to €397 million, compared to the first quarter of 2018, while the Compact Equipment Products Division saw sales revenues grow by 18% to €84 million. Activity was said to be particularly strong with rental companies in N America, though the rising value of the dollar is reducing competitiveness for exports from the US.
Manitou’s Services and Solutions Division also grew its sales revenues significantly. In the first quarter, they were up 19% to €80 million, compared to the equivalent period of 2018. The division is expanding all its activities, particularly for spare parts and second-hand vehicles. It is also planning to ramp-up connected services, in line with its strategy to systematise connectivity and to digitalise machines.
At Bauma, Manitou introduced its strategy for the development of electric and hybrid machines with the launch of the ‘Oxygen’ label for its low-emissions solutions. The company will be introducing its first 100% rough terrain electric platforms to the market by the end of 2019.
The company’s order intake on equipment was down from €554 million in the first quarter of 2018 to €363 million in the first quarter of this year.
The order book on equipment at the end of March 2019 was €884 million, compared to €870 million at the same time last year.
Michel Denis, President and CEO of Manitou, said, “The first quarter was achieved in a context that remained favourable across all markets and geographies. Our customers’ requests are still well aligned for the period. The level of order intake in Q1 rebalances the record order intake we achieved in the last quarter of 2018. The continued high production rates have led us to reduce our order book and to limit the impact of anticipating order intake that we had seen in 2018. This trend should continue in the coming quarters and should allow us to regain a more normative depth of the book of about three to five months of activity.”
The company has confirmed its outlook for 2019, both in terms of revenue and expected profitability.
https://www.manitou-group.com/en/
