Reporting its unaudited fourth quarter and full-year results for 2008, the company said it achieved revenues of $27.8m (EUR21.7m) in the quarter and $106.3m (EUR83.1m) for the year. During the three months to 31 December, 2008, net income from continuing operations fell to $0.26m, down from $0.3m in the previous quarter and $0.68m in the fourth quarter of 2007; while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was $1.2m, down from $1.3m in the three months to 30 September, 2008 and $1.9m in the final quarter of 2007.
For the year in full, it recorded gross profit of $17.5m, down from $19.9m; income from continuing operations of $3.4m, down from $6.3m; net earnings from continuing operations of $1.7m, down from $2.1m; and EBITDA of $5.4m, down from $8.4m.
To counter the negative impact of the current economic climate, Manitex highlighted its efforts to balance supply with demand and investments it has made to expand its products and parts portfolio. In October, the company announced the acquisitions of crane dealer Crane and Machinery and forklift manufacturer Schaeff, having previously said it expected to see continued growth in its crane group as production increases and supply chain management “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.”
“The fourth quarter of 2008 was particularly challenging as customers’ credit contracted, order intake slowed and we received some order cancellations as projects were halted,” said Andrew Rooke, Manitex International president and chief operating officer. “Our response to this environment has been to rapidly adjust capacity to this lower demand throughout the organisation. We have implemented across the board cost reductions with the objective of remaining profitable through this economic downturn. These actions commenced in the fourth quarter of 2008 and should continue to be a partial offset to any continued market weakness into 2009.”
The company said that balancing capacity had resulted in restructuring costs of $0.3m over the year, including $0.1m in the fourth quarter. Rooke said Manitex expects to receive approximately $5m in annualised cost reduction as a result. Despite the harsh economic climate, the company managed to increase its operating working capital to $23.6m, from $19.2m at the end of 2007. Rooke said this was equivalent to 24.5% of three month annualised sales. The company improved its ratio of current assets to current liabilities to 2.4, from 2.2 at the end of 2007.
Chairman and CEO David Langevin said, “2008 was a year of continued progress for Manitex International. Challenged by severe softening in our markets, amid global economic turbulence, and the rapid increase in our material costs for much of the year, we increased our market share and continued to generate cash and positive EPS throughout the year. With the continued development of our products, the addition of new distribution outlets, and implementation of our international strategy, we believe that we are well- positioned to participate in the infrastructure and energy programmes that we expect to be implemented over the next several years.”
