Terex Lifting saw its revenues rise 41% in 1998 to $771m, according to results reported by parent company Terex Corporation on 2 March. Operating profit in the Lifting division grew 74% to $82.1m while the operating margin reached 10.7%.
Fil Filipov, president and chief executive officer of Terex Lifting, cited the USA, Spain, Italy and Germany as particularly good markets during 1998.
“We continue our worldwide market penetration in the lifting business, not only in North America but also in Europe,” said Filipov. “We gained additional share in the US crane market, we established a leadership position in Spain and improved our competitive position in Germany.” Terex Lifting’s aerial work platform business saw its revenues grow 62% to $143m.
Group sales for Terex Corporation were up 46% to $1,233m, while income before extraordinary charges rose from 1997’s $30.3m to $72.8 in 1998.
Operating profit was up from $71m to $122m. The seven businesses acquired during the year represented $245m of the $391m revenue increase.
Among companies acquired during the year were the Italian telescopic handler manufacturer Italmacchine, and tower crane producers Peiner and Gru Comedil, all of which were acquired in the last two months of the year. These three companies had combined sales of $68m in 1998, so unless further acquisitions are made early in the year, Filipov needs to grow revenues at Terex Lifting by a further 20% to hit his publicly stated target of being a billion dollar lifting company by next year.
Further acquisitions are, however, almost certain, given the recent history of the company. Filipov has already expressed his interest in re-entering the forklift truck market and may need another aerial work platform manufacturer if he is to keep up with growth in the market.
But he also revealed last month that he wants to add a knuckle-boom loader crane range to his rapidly expanding empire. Given the wide range of manufacturers in the business, he has plenty to choose from.
Filipov has identified this market segment as a gap in his product range, having recently added tower cranes and telehandlers to the Terex Lifting group.
He visited the Samoter show in Verona, Italy last month where most of the indigenous loader crane manufacturers were exhibiting. Among the companies with which Filipov spoke at Samoter was Effer, whose cranes Terex already distributes in the USA.
• Italian self-erecting tower crane manufacturer Ferro has agreed to supply Terex Towers with models in the range 14tm to 28tm to complement the self-erecting range already available from Terex companies Gru Comedil and Peiner. The Ferro towers will be branded as either Comedil or Peiner, depending on markets.
