“Our second quarter produced exceptional results from our Manitex product line against the backdrop of a North American capital equipment market still-challenged by lacklustre demand and rising material costs,” said chairman and chief executive officer David Langevin, “Our backlog continues to rise with global demand for our products, particularly our 50-ton and other high capacity cranes.
“We are particularly encouraged by the 22% year-to-date increase in our crane backlog this year. We have received in excess of 130 orders for our 50-ton crane since its launch a year ago. On the materials handling side, we have responded to the more difficult market conditions by commencing a streamlining of our operations, and will continue to prudently position ourselves so that we are prepared when this market finds firmer footing.”
“We now have good visibility into orders and our expected performance for the remainder of the year and expect to see financial benefits materialise from our international distribution agreements in the second half of 2008 and into 2009. For 2009, we anticipate at least 10% of our revenues will come from our international diversification with our new distributors who sell into the oil, gas and mining markets, particularly within Russia, the C.I.S. and the Middle East.
“We believe that we can maintain the sales momentum with our large capacity cranes and the profitability that we demonstrated this quarter throughout this year and into 2009. Based on our greater visibility, we would expect our continuing operations’ revenues for 2008 to be in the $100–$110m range with diluted earnings per share in a range of $0.30–$0.40, representing growth of 30% percent to 74% percent from 2007.”
Net revenues for the quarter were $26.5m compared to $30.0m for the three months ended June 30, 2007. The company said that the decrease in revenues is primarily due to a decrease in the material handling product lines of military forklifts and specialised carriers, which were particularly strong in the second quarter of 2007.
Andrew Rooke, Manitex International president and chief operating officer, commented, “Against the backdrop of an industry that has seen a significant decline during 2008, we are pleased with our performance to date and with the 16% increase we have seen in our consolidated backlog. However, the second quarter financials do not fully articulate the enthusiasm we have right now with respect to the opportunities directly in front of us.
“The strength of our crane business is moving us forward and our expectation is that we will see continued growth in this group as we increase production and manage the supply chain to deliver our larger cranes to our global markets. This growth will be combined with expected profitability improvements from the streamlining that is underway in the material handling group that should help these operations to be properly positioned when these markets recover.”
