Manitowoc sales down, orders up in Q2

15 August 2017 by Sotiris Kanaris

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The Manitowoc Company has reported second-quarter net sales revenue of $394.6m, $63.1m less than the same period in 2016.

The majority of the year-over-year decline was attributed to lower crawler crane shipments in the Americas and lower rough-terrain crane shipments primarily in the Americas and the Middle East, mainly due to continued weakness in oil and gas market demand.

Second-quarter orders of $379.5m, which included the initial production order related to a US Army contract worth approximately $11m, were up 9% from the comparable period in 2016. Backlog totaled $491.2m at June 30, 2017, up 25% year-on-year.

The company reported net income from continuous operations of $0.7m , versus a net loss of $5m in Q2 2016.

“In the second-quarter we have seen order improvement in most product categories except lattice boom crawler cranes. We have experienced pockets of improved demand in specific markets like the Permian and Eagle Ford basins in North America. European markets continue to experience moderate growth, mainly in residential and non-residential construction markets, partly offset by continued weakness in the Middle East,” said president and CEO Pennypacker.

During the earning’s call, transcribed by Seeking Alpha, Pennypacker said nearly half of the orders in the second quarter, similar to the first quarter, were from products introduced since The Manitowoc Company became a standalone crane company.

In terms of the tower crane market, senior vice president and CFO Dave Antoniuk said it continues to grow, particularly in Europe, and that there are some pockets of strength in the US.

Pennypacker announced that the relocation of the crawler crane manufacturing from Manitowoc to Shady Grove was completed, “on time and under budget.”

“At Shady Grove, we are now capable of fabricating, machining, painting, assembling and testing of large crawler cranes,” he said.

Pennypacker added that the Portuguese tower crane consolidation remains on schedule and on budget, with the plant completion by year end.

During the call, he also said that in early June 2018, the company will have ‘Crane days’ at Shady Grove, where it will introduce at least four cranes, continuing the product portfolio evolution.

“While we remain cautiously optimistic in the near term, we continue to focus on delivering value through innovative products that provide superior return on invested capital for our customers. In these challenging times, we are maintaining our disciplined adherence to The Manitowoc Way, positioning us to achieve our long-term target of double-digit operating margins by 2020 and becoming the leading global crane company as the market recovers,” said Pennypacker.

Weyers departure

Executive vice president for tower cranes at Manitowoc Larry Weyers has resigned and is officially leaving the company at the end of the month.

Aaron Ravenscroft will become their Manitowoc’s executive vice president of cranes and will be based out of its Dardilly, France facility. Ravenscroft currently serves as the company’s executive vice president, mobile cranes.