Palfinger, the Austrian manufacturer of knuckle boom loader cranes, has reported a rise in orders in the first quarter of 2003.
Revenues rose 1.9% on the first quarter of 2002 to 80.0m Euros and pre-tax profit was up 2.5% to 7.2m Euros.
The company said that its 2002 results were affected by one-off costs associated with reorganising the business. The RAP project, which reorganised production to build cranes on demand, was completed in the fourth quarter of 2002. This has enabled a cut in delivery times of up to 70% through process optimisation. It has raised demand for Palfinger cranes and increased average factory utilisation, the company said.
On the down side, earnings from North America were affected by the Iraq war and the harshest winter in North America for decades. Palfinger began assembling cranes in North America at its Niagara Falls plant in Canada at the start of 2003.
