CEO Herbert Ortner said, “2008 was not an easy year for Palfinger, but despite all the difficulties we have reason to be satisfied. Our strong market position and the flexible structures that we established in previous years have supported us in this environment. They constitute enormous competitive advantages, especially in difficult times, and therefore the consolidation in our industry also opens up new opportunities. We achieved further growth in revenue, and our flexibility allowed us partly to absorb the drop in orders in 2008.”

The company completed a three-year investment programme in 2008: this included capacity expansion, process optimisation, and quality enhancement. A plant in Shenzen, China, was expanded from pure assembly into production.

The company said that its crane business was strong in Europe in the first half of 2008; Germany and France were stable into the fourth quarter, but Spain, Great Britain and Italy came to an almost complete standstill in the course of the financial year. The company said ‘current developments underline the importance of further internationalisation and diversification’.

The company said three recent acquisitions had supported its growth in 2008: MBB, purchased at the end of 2007, Elevant, and Omaha Standard.

The company will release final results in on 25 February.Palfinger grows on acquisitions, but earnings slump

Preliminary 2008 results for Austrian knuckleboom manufacturer Palfinger show revenues up 14% to EUR795m, but earnings down 31% to EUR69m. The company said ‘the way earnings developed reflected the increasingly weaker market environment more clearly’.

CEO Herbert Ortner said, “2008 was not an easy year for Palfinger, but despite all the difficulties we have reason to be satisfied. Our strong market position and the flexible structures that we established in previous years have supported us in this environment. They constitute enormous competitive advantages, especially in difficult times, and therefore the consolidation in our industry also opens up new opportunities. We achieved further growth in revenue, and our flexibility allowed us partly to absorb the drop in orders in 2008.”

The company completed a three-year investment programme in 2008: this included capacity expansion, process optimisation, and quality enhancement. A plant in Shenzen, China, was expanded from pure assembly into production.

The company said that its crane business was strong in Europe in the first half of 2008; Germany and France were stable into the fourth quarter, but Spain, Great Britain and Italy came to an almost complete standstill in the course of the financial year. The company said ‘current developments underline the importance of further internationalisation and diversification’.

The company said three recent acquisitions had supported its growth in 2008: MBB, purchased at the end of 2007, Elevant, and Omaha Standard.

The company will release final results in on 25 February.